#and for a posture which does not make my lower back hurt after an hour standing or 2 hours walking
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farmergilesofham · 9 months ago
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I've heard a good deal about how ADHD makes it hard to regulate muscle tension the way a "normal" person would, and I've never really thought too hard about that until literally today, as I intentionally relaxed muscles which have been tensed since before I knew how to speak this language, and took a breath twice as deep as any I ever remember taking.
My shoulders are a different shape. They always felt the wrong shape, and tried as I might with pinning them back like I'd been haphazardly instructed, all I could achieve was a weird caricature of healthy posture. And now suddenly the muscle and fat, which has been a daily trigger for persistent, low-level dysmorphia for years, looks... right.
Why
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braxbrowastaken · 4 months ago
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Every six months, the Federation of Heroes’ members are ranked by an impartial third party’s ranking system based on their performance over the past half year. Generally, the rankings are fairly constant, with occasional rivals swapping adjacent places in the rankings.
Every six months, our assigned districts are reassigned through a pretty simple system:
Everyone fills out a form, picking a district of their choice.
Non-conflicting picks go through.
Conflicting picks are announced.
The heroes in conflict may form a team operating in that district. However, this means redrawing districts, which is a pain in the ass and pisses off everyone involved, so nobody does this anymore.
Alternatively, the lower-ranked hero cedes the pick to the higher-ranked hero. This is mostly a gentleman’s rule to spare everyone from redrawing districts and… the formal alternative.
The formal alternative being arbitration by the third party. Naturally, this usually goes in favor of the higher-ranking hero, with limited exceptions, but it’s a huge pain in the ass for everyone involved, even more so than redrawing districts.
District reassignment was two days ago. And two days ago… Black Monarch, the top-rank hero, staked a claim on the district I’d presided over for my entire career.
Black Monarch’s whole aesthetic was weird. On one hand, butterflies. Bright, vibrantly colored cloaks, capes, and so on adorned their usual supersuit. On the other hand… fucking black widow spiders. Her most notable powers included: highly maneuverable flight, the ability to extrude sticky thread from her mouth, and the ability to deliver quite possibly the nastiest venom known to man with a single bite. And, naturally, she didn’t let anyone make an antidote. “I don’t accidentally bite people”, she says.
Honestly, she’d make a better villain than hero. She was effective, sure but her approval rating was never terribly high. Quite possibly because her district usually is the most profitable and most stressful district for therapists on this side of the globe.
Me? I was sitting in a comfy eleventh place spot. Not terrible, given the nearly two hundred heroes in the city; in most cases, it was enough to give me free pick of district. I, of course, always picked the same district every six months. Because one of the prominent villains in that district was my twin sister.
Her whole thing was ‘playing the bad guy’ so that people would unite and make things better. And yet, she was actually a pacifist, despite all her posturing. I don’t think I ever remember her killing anyone. Whenever she would demolish a building, she’d start with superficial damage to mark the building and scare people a little bit and get them to evacuate. I’d then show up, fight her, and scare her off. Then she’d come back later and demolish the building in a spectacular and flashy way, after everyone had already vacated it, and we’d fight amongst the rubble.
It made great news footage, and actually kind of kept other villains in check, because if a villain overstepped and hurt our district’s people, both of us would turn on them.
All of that’s over now. Black Monarch decided to take my district, and I couldn’t sway the arbitration committee with the staggeringly low death rates, which were the main source of my ratings; villains weren’t getting caught or eliminated, and Black Monarch made a big show of calling me ‘soft’. Said she’d have the district cleared out of villains in a week. Of course she won.
Yesterday, Black Monarch bit my sister. She caught my sister, tied her to the side of the building she was demolishing, and bit her, then flew off and left her to die. On live television. I couldn’t do anything but watch as my sister died slowly… agonizingly… for six hours. Because Black Monarch didn’t give out her venom to make antidotes. Ever.
I… spent that afternoon away from my district in plain clothes. Sitting in the window of that damaged building, trying my best to comfort my sister and come to terms with Black Monarch’s crime. I think everyone recognized me, but I know none of them would mention a damn thing. Especially not to Black Monarch. My sister, as annoying as having to move every now and then was, was a valuable positive force in the community, even though she was a villain. The laypeople recognized that.
I sat in my office that night in silence. Black Monarch ended up visiting me.
“The evidence department will be releasing your sister’s body soon. You should take time off and plan her funeral,” she suggested. She said it so nonchalantly, so coldly, like she wasn’t a murderer in hero’s clothing. The highest ranking, but least popular hero in the city.
“…She already had that planned. I’ve already sent the necessary documents to the right people,” I said simply. It was true; she was prepared for some accident to do her in for a while now. I did the same; she had a folder for me, hidden away in her lair that Black Monarch still hadn’t found.
Black Monarch wore simple formal wear that night. No body armor, nothing to indicate she wasn’t just another middle-to-upper level office worker.
“I see. You didn’t care to make your own touches?”
God that made my blood boil. “No. This funeral is for her, not me. She would show me the same respect,” I asserted. Again, it was true. We’d discussed it at length in the past, in plain clothes.
I rolled a grenade around in my hand under my desk. With a simple click, a colorless, nearly odorless, nonlethal power-neutralizing gas crept out of the pressurized canister. Power-neutralizing gear was the right way to handle villains; largely harmlessly, so that they could be tried, convicted, sentenced, and redeemed for their crimes. But heroes like Black Monarch knew that hardly anyone would dare to challenge them even if they ran the streets red with the blood of villains.
Black Monarch nodded respectfully at my response. “I see. Well… I’m sorry about your sister,” she lied. Like she always did. Like she accidentally bites people, resigning them to a horrible death over four to eight hours. Even though she explicitly says she doesn’t. “I’ll see you around. Got plenty of work to do.”
The room fell silent for a moment, the quiet hissing of the gas canister in my hand blending in with the background noise of the room.
“Why? Why did you take that district from me? The statistics were good! People were mostly happy. The villain-caused death rate in that district was the lowest in the city. There’s a reason why I’m #11.”
“You went soft from having a cushy district for so long. Predictions say you’re going to be #26 after this period. Lots of newer heroes are surpassing you.” Black Monarch said simply. “Consider it a wake-up call to do your fucking job, rather than have theatric tea parties with villains all day.”
“‘Theatric tea parties with villains’ worked extremely well before you came along,” I disputed. Black Monarch sniffed the air for a moment. “I hardly needed my gear for anything more than appearances right before you took the district from me.”
“Your gear’s leaking,” she observed. “No doubt from disuse.”
I sniffed the air too, faking unawareness. “…You’re right. I’ll fix that.” I felt thoroughly feeble. Thoroughly mundane. And Black Monarch was smaller than me. As I stood up to open the window and let the gas out, I knew she’d be just as affected as me. Likely more.
“You should probably go. Give yourself a break for the exposure to wear off before you go resume your cleanup,” I suggested.
Black Monarch nodded. I’m pretty sure she thought I was just as pacifistic as my sister, and that she’d ruled out what I was about to do. “Goodnight, then, #11.”
“Goodnight, #1.”
As she turned to leave, I sighed heavily, retrieving the weapon I stole from her office’s armory earlier that evening from my desk and leveling it at her back. And with a quiet “thwip”, the dart gun launched its black-fletched payload straight into her shoulder.
“#1, I think I’m retiring from being a hero,” I said, watching her stop and reach back to pluck the dart from her shoulder, stunned by my betrayal. “I don’t think the Federation is right for me anymore, with people like you at the helm.” I shot her in the chest with a second dart gun as she turned toward me. This dart was fletched in bright yellow; a poison that would paralyze her far faster than she’d start dying.
And then Black Monarch collapsed on my desk, her legs giving out from under her as she tried to throttle me. She looked pathetic, trying her best to beg for help without the ability to speak through the growing pain. Didn’t care though. She deserved this. “#1, do you believe in the afterlife?”
She nodded weakly.
“Good. Then when you get there, find my sister, apologize, and beg for mercy as you sink to Hell where you belong.” I walked around the desk, kicking Black Monarch in the side and causing her to topple weakly onto the ground. “Goodbye, Black Monarch,” I said, walking out the office door and making my way out of the building.
I’m sure nobody will complain if I steal my sister’s style.
You and your twin are opposites in this world of heroes and villains. One a villain, another a hero. You just heard one of your colleagues talk about how they killed your twin.
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lhecxzsaisgay · 2 years ago
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A Change Pt.2 - Natasha Romanoff
Fluffyyyyy
:just nat being the golden retriever that she is on the inside who keeps wanting readers attention at all time.
~~~~~~~~~~
You are currently in your office, busy with so many paperworks that Fury gave you in the last hour. You were rushing it, as you're really tired, your eyes are hurting, while your lower back is starting to become sore.
While your girlfriend, Natasha, is in your bed, trying to entertain herself by watching something on the television. But, either way, it's no use. She wants you, she wants to hold you in her arms, she wants your warmth, she wants to look at your adorable face, she wants to her your voice, specially your laugh.
And ofcourse, this is Natasha we are talking about. If she wants something, she will get it, she will do anything to get it. So, she did the one thing that she knows that would make you immediately stop from working.
She went to your shared office, and started to act sick, just like what she always do whenever she wants you.
"Baby?..." She called out, peeking her head on the office door.
You whipped your head to look at her, that's when she saw you're adorable face. Even though you're all tired, she can't help but think about how cute you look with those big circled glasses hanging between your nose, your mouth slightly agape, with your big doe eyes looking at her.
"Yes, Tasha?" You ask, before going back to what you are doing.
She almost back off, and double think about her plan on getting you. The guilt building up in her body on the thought of you, all tired and exhausted, then she will make you worry with her 'acting' just because she wants you.
But, she's Natasha Romanoff. She always have something after something, so come to think of it, you're all tired, and if she ever ask for you to go to bed, which is the only things she wants just to hold you, it would let you relax either way, you can already rest too! And, there's always tommorow, she can just help you with everything.
So, deciding to continue her plan, she changed her posture and expression into a exhausted sleepy one.
"Can you come to bed with me? I don't feel really good. It's almost midnight, i can't sleep without you by my side. Please." She ask softly, making her voice smaller, using her puppy eyes, that only you can see.
Before you can even answer her, she interupted you.
"There's still tommorow, i can help you with it, just please? I just don't feel really good." She pleaded more.
"Okay, okay, wait for me in the bed while i sort this out, okay? I'll be quick, i promise. Just lay, and don't do anything, baby." You commanded softly, and she nodded, turning around quickly trying to hide her big smile.
She waited for you until you're done, you changed yourself into a more comfortable one, then settling yourself on the bed besides her, but not before asking her if she needs and wants anything.
"No, i don't have any. Just want you." She said, as she reach over to take you in her arms, then quickly showering your head with kisses, before letting out a content sigh.
The closeness made you feel more of her, she's not hot, i mean, SHE IS HOT, but that's not what i mean, like, her skin is not hot. But, that doesn't mean she's all good right?
"How are you feeling, baby? I'm sorry if i took so long." You said softly, reach up to scrape her head with your finger, making her close her eyes and hold you more tight.
You head is on her chest, you're legs are tangled, her arms are wrapped around you. Your chin is on her chest to have a better look at her face, her face that is not showing she's not fine. She actually look so lively.
"Hmmm, good." She said under her breath.
"You sure you don't need anything?" You ask once again, scanning her features, trying to find any signs of sickness.
"Yep, im sure." She quietly answered.
"What are you feeling earlier, hmm? Were you feeling dizzy? Nausea?" You ask once again, while your mind is already trying to put the pieces together.
She always do something like this whenever you're busy, i mean, after all those years of being with Natasha, she always does this, and you're already calculated with it. Knowing wether she's saying the truth or not.
"Just...bad. A little dizzy." She said, still closing her eyes, loving and melting on how your fingers work softly on her head.
"Really? Want me to get you a medicine?" You ask, smirking knowingly.
"No, im all fine now, love. Don't worry." She said, as her hands started to rub your back soothingly, her eyes that are still close, was opened when you stop scratching her head.
"You're lying." That caught her off guard, as she quickly shook her head.
"No, im not, im just really dizzy, and i felt something is off, like you know, i just felt really bad, and all i want is to rest with you, but i can't, because im feeling ba-" You cut her off by putting you hand over her mouth, giggling as you did so, while squinting your eyes at her.
"I didn't say anything about you, lying about what you're feeling." You said, and her eyes widen, as you pull back from her.
"I- i...you-...w-well- i..." She tried to find something, but can't find any words.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." You click you tounge while shaking your head playfully. "If you wanted me, you could've just said something. It's not like im gonna be mad or anything, you know that, right?" You gently explained.
Natasha just pull you back into her, hiding her face in your chest, embarrassed that she got caught, again.
"You know that, right, baby?" You ask gently, once again, only to receive a nod and a muffled yes from you big-baby-girlfriend.
"Then why would you do something like this, again? I thought we're already done with this?" You ask gently, trying to pry her off of you, but she won't budge.
"Baby?" You called out, only to receive a whine.
You hate it, knowing she have to act all sick just for your attention and affection, you know she's not good at expressing her vulnerability, especially when it came to her feelings. But, you already talked to her about this, saying she can just come to you and say whatever she wants.
After years of being together, you don't want Natasha being all shy like this just for your attention, if she wants you, then she can have you. All of you.
"Come on, baby, it's okay." You giggle at little because of her cute position.
She's the tough one in your relationship, the taller and more masculine one, and obviously, she's the top. But, whenever it's only the two of you, she act all baby, not that you are complaining, you love her being like this, knowing she didn't get so much of sweet and gentle affection and the right attention when she was kid.
You will always gonna be more willing to give her that. With no complains.
"You're just so busy, and i don't want you to stop what you're doing just because i want you." She said, still not pulling away.
"Aww, baby, it's okay, we're already passed that, right? I already told you that you can just ask straight right up to me. I will always have time for you, i will stop what im doing just for you, that's how you are to me, why can't i be like that to you, right?" You said, brushing your fingers through her hair.
"Sorry, i won't do it again." She said, now looking up at you with guilt in her eyes, but you smile, a smile that you know she loves, a soft smile form in her face.
"Good, because if you do that again, i will not give you what you want." You teased, and she playfully pout, which soon vanished when you kiss it.
"Just joking, now come on, let's sleep. I'm in sooooo tired." You said, getting in the cover with her, before you can even put an arm around her, her slender arms are already around you, locking you in her embrace, making you roll your eyes.
"Yup, let's sleep, good night, malyshka. I love you so so much." She said sweetly, making you smile.
"'night, i love you too, my big baby." You teased, before closing your eyes.
You heard her grumble, causing a little laugh to come out of you mouth.
God, you really do love your girlfriend, do you?
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hacked-by-jake · 3 years ago
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Take you home ²
𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞...
>𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟷
Summary: Jake can’t accept that this has been done to you, the thought torments him, and all he wants is revenge, and he gets it.
Words: 4,2k
Genre: Angst / Fluff
Warnings: Swearing, insulting
A/n: Well, hi.
So, this one has taken on some dimensions again, they weren’t planned, about 3k. Now, it is a bit more. Actually, the whole thing should not be quite so extensive, but well, once Jake starts, he doesn’t stop.
Thank you alls so much for the support in part one, I was really surprised. And thank you very much for wishing Part Two, which means a lot to me. ❤️
So, that’s a bit more related to alternative two of part one. Actually, it was supposed to get a little darker and generally the plan was different. The ending should be different and longer, but I think it’s good as it is now.
I hope you’ll like it.
And apologize for the mistakes.
(I think I wanted to say more but I forgot xD)
Anyway, have fun, stay healthy and take care of yourselves.❤️🌹🎭
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There lies the hacker now, in the early morning hours, not even the sun has risen already, wide awake, full of emotions and agitated.
In his arms, you, fortunately asleep, deep and firm.
He also wanted to sleep, he has been trying for two hours but it doesn’t work. And how should he? After the past hours it is practically impossible to sleep.
The only reason you sleep is probably the effort you had to experience. Your body was finished after the shower. You were still shivering from the adrenaline, agitated and yet so terribly tired.
So now he lies here, doesn’t know what to do with himself, doesn’t know how to react, how to feel. TThe pure fear that lay in your voice when the call came suddenly, gives him goose bumps again, crawling all over his body.
This fearful tone of your voice won’t let it go.
What if he hadn’t been there in time? If he hadn’t been able to save you in time? If it took him a minute longer? If something had gone wrong?
He can’t even imagine what could have happened. At this horrible imagination in his head, he pinches his eyes tightly. Try to remove the images from his head that make him sick, he would like to vomit, so horrible is the thought of it. He shakes his head, tries to drive away the thoughts, but they don’t go away. His fingernails drill deep and firmly into the skin of his palms. It hurts, it’s uncomfortable, and if he still squeezes even harder, he’ll start bleeding, but he has no control over it. In his mind, the worst scenarios circle and he can only imagine, if even he feel so bad now, how bad did you feel in this moment?
He controls himself to be quiet, exhorts himself to loosen up again so as not to wake you. You need sleep. You deserve sleep. But these pictures, these fucking pictures, they're not going away. The imagination that someone would touch you- NO!
The hacker opens his eyes wide! He must not go in this direction, he must look straight out and make sure that you get your revenge, as you deserve! That he protects your honor, that he makes everyone see what happens when someone wants to do something bad to you.
He’s Jake, one of the best hackers in the world and now he’s gonna show what he’s capable of.
-
His breath is so heavy, so full of anger and hatred, so full of negativity that he would like to hit the next wall.
He bites his lower lip when he thinks about leaving you here alone. He needs to be in his study. He just has to find out who this guy was. That bastard.
Just really reluctant, actually he would just like to lie here with you, but he has to, he's winds cautiously out of your embrace.
He can’t lie here and wait, he has to do something. Now!
Even if he feels weird with it, he opens the laptop that is in his bedroom and directs it so that he can see your sleeping shape. He will simply connect the laptop to his PC to keep an eye on you. As soon as you get restless or wake up, he could be with you right away.
That’s how he’s gonna do it.
He gives you a final and gentle kiss on the forehead before going to his study.
-
After he has prepared his work setup and everything is ready, he wastes no time and immediately gets to work. Quickly scan the data of the man who was tracking you.
Everything that had ever happened in his life, the hacker would find out now. And of course, the most important information is quickly obtained.
Name
Age
Date of birth
Address
All bank accounts
His social security number
Where he grew up
As what he works
What friends he has
With whom he is friends
His pets
On what elementary school he went
On what high school he went
Who his parents are
The siblings
All information about each individual family member
And at the very end, the police certificate of conduct with all the information who are important for him. And that’s more interesting than he thought. The further he read the information from the police, the more his emotional state changes.
It starts with drug abuse
Bodily injury in two cases
Insult
Gun possession
Domestic violence against his ex girlfriend
....
The list is shockingly long: a two-year stay in a prison, probation and community service.
The further Jake read, the more worried he is that he couldn’t have been there in time with bad luck. But he’s all the happier he could save you.
At the same time, he’s thinking about telling you who the guy is, because he doesn’t know how you’re gonna take this information. But he would worry more about that later.
As he glances at the laptop’s camera, a smile creeps up on his lips. Meanwhile, you are lying on his side of the bed, your arms are tightly wrapped around his pillow and your head is pressing into the soft fabric, as if you were looking for his proximity in your sleep.
How perfect can a person be? How perfect is this beautiful being lying in his bed? Immediately the tingling starts in his stomach, as always when it comes to you.
He’s so terribly in love. So insanely strong.
Again, he begins to regret that it has not progressed further between you. Everyone knows that he loves you, and everyone knows that you love him. And yet you both have not yet managed to finally do what you both so much want. But the fear of destroying everything is so great. You two spend so much time with each other, become best friends, best friends who feel more for each other than just friendship.
In addition, his fear of putting you in danger is added. He is not a simple man, no one who prefers a regular daily life, no fixed working hours, no fixed income, even if he earns more than most others. As a hacker you have one or the other possibility. Nevertheless, he is still wanted by the government. Not as strong, and the danger is not as great as it was a few months ago, but it still exists.
But last night’s incident somehow inspired him to think, and he feels different when he thinks about it. He wants you, he wants you with everything you have, he wants you by his side. He always wants to protect you, he always wants to be there for you, he wants you by his side, he doesn’t want to live alone in this apartment anymore. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore, he needs you, he has always done it and he will always need you, he wants you so bad!
This incident clearly shows that life is always uncertain, and this incident shows him that he is lying to himself. He wants to be able to say that you’re a couple, he wants it so badly. So fucking urgent.
"I want to share my life with you," the hacker murmurs, driving through his face with his hands. Now his thoughts have drifted in another direction again, but you’re just sitting in every corner of his mind. You are the biggest and most important part of his life and that since the first time you met.
But now something else is more important. After that, he can think of you a lot, but now revenge counts.
He breathes in and out again before turning back to the screens and begins to gather more information.
-
About half an hour later, he releases himself from his cramped posture. The further he delves into the life of the man, the more aggressive he becomes.
This guy’s not a petty criminal, the way he thought he was, this guy’s got dirt on him through and through.
And the further he reads, the more he wonders why this guy is on the loose and not in a maximum security prison.
From organized crime to gang activities. Drug dealing, counterfeit money, prositution. All the shit every gang is involved in.
Disgusting chat histories, images, threats of other people, extort protection money. And the hacker just assumed the guy is just a disgusting bastard. But he thought wrong.
And yet, it’s actually only good for him, really very good, because Jake has now a lot more options than he thought.
He thinks hard about how to proceed. How best to tackle this whole situation, so that he has the best chance of success.
But what’s also positive for is the fact that this guy really doesn’t deserve anything other than what the hacker’s up to.
To destroy a person’s whole life is actually nothing that he would do; he simply cannot reconcile this with his morality. Even if it’s about you, but now he’s not just doing it for you, he’s doing it for everyone. This is a favor he does to the whole society.
Oh and he’ll do it with pleasure.
-
Meanwhile, he has gained access to the man’s laptop and can take a closer look at the living room. He also got lucky and found some camera shots taken by a bakery that is on the street where you were being followed.
Unfortunately, it has no sound and yet it is more than enough. He saved the recording and censored you on it.You don’t have to be broadcast in video format all over the world.
But it is still clear that he's persecutes you. It is more bad than quite recognizable on the videos that he is angry and that he shouts something, but when you see the video, everything is explained by itself.
That was number one on his list.
Let's continue with point two.
And point two is a summary of all the information he could find that could even remotely involve anything criminal.
And this is a really long list, he can prove everything, he can prove every single point. With all the information that will help.
Videos, chats, pictures, recording of conversations. Locations, meeting places, other names.
Because his plan has changed, and it’s not just about destroying this man anymore, it’s about destroying all the criminals around him.
-
Point two, finish! Now, point three, and that’s the confrontation with the man.
The most important information is in front of him as he puts on his headset and leans back relaxed.
The recording program runs as soon as he turns on his microphone. The recording is automatically converted into the computer voice and then sent as a video along with his sign, the eye, as a gift to his new friend.
He puts one leg over the other and folds his arms in front of his chest.
"Hello Ted, my identity doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’ve made some serious mistakes, and about this, I will teach you now."
-
And send.
Soon the man’s cell phone will start ringing, and it will only stop when he gets up and then listens to the hacker’s nice message on his laptop, which will breaking his little world in which he lives.
But it’s his own fault.
A look at the camera of his own laptop tells him that you still sleep quietly and calmly, which makes him happy. -
The ringing of the mobile phone and the terrible ringtone of the persecutor annoy the hacker so slowly. He didn’t think it would be that long before Ted wake up. But when it finally happens and a door is opened, a slightly arrogant grin appears on Jake’s face.
It’s Showtime.
"What the hell?" grumbles the sleepy guy as Jake makes the video file pop up.
The eye flickers on the screen and Ted skeptically approaches it.
He pulls back his desk chair and sits down.
"What the fuck?" he hisses angrily and pushes a button on the keyboard.
"Hello Ted, my identity doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’ve made some serious mistakes, and about this, I will teach you now."
Amused and eager, Jake follows the course of the situation.
Ted becomes more and more hectic, the more facts the computer voice enumerates. He probably didn’t expect this to ever come to light. He wildly presses all the buttons he can find, tries to turn off the laptop but he has absolutely no control over it.
At the very end, after all the crimes have been enumerated, the computer voice informs him that he has video footage of his nocturnal activity.
"That was a big mistake, Ted, and it’s time you understood that you understand how unimportant you are in this world"
-
After Jake has decided to leave Ted alone, with the knowing that he can now say goodbye to his life as he knows it, he move on to point 4.
And point 4 involves sending all the information to everyone who can do something with it. But don't worry, that’s not the finale.
The finale will be something special.
Everything collected is sent first to the police in Duskwood. He doesn’t think much will happen, but the police will certainly not be the agency that will take care of Ted, in the end.
After the police, Jake sends the information to his place of work. He won’t be needing the job in a few hours anyway even longer.
Then his sister gets an e-mail with everything there is about her brother. Because Jake found out that poor girl always had to take care of him. Had to pick him out of the cell at night, had to pick him up of the hospital one or the other time and things like that. Among other things, good Ted broke into her apartment once, but this was not reported to the police. Jake saw in a chat that Ted promised to stop doing criminal things. This didn’t work out that way. The hacker feel sorry for the sister, she certainly doesn’t deserve it and yet this is about more than just that.
And after all the important people have received the information, he finally go to the final, which the hacker is most looking forward to before he can finally return to you.
Back to you, to his bed where you lie, this day can’t be more beautiful, can it?
Well, the morning show on TV sounds good, doesn’t it? The channel is littered with scandals and really unscrupulous means of getting attention.
No one will be angry with him if the actual broadcast is interrupted for a few minutes to do something good. And to appease his vengeance. All he has to do is fade in everything, play the video and the rest would come by itself. The spread on the Internet. The information is forwarded to other authorities like the State Police Authorities as it is about more than just the pursuit after revenge for his love. Gang crime is not liked by the state.
So then, curtain up, the final begins.
-
About half an hour later, now it is shortly before 9  in the morning, the whole took longer than he had expected, he sinks back on the soft mattress. Satisfaction spreads and seeing you sleep so peacefully also makes him tired.
Carefully he pulls the blanket over himself and then grabs again around your body to bring you back into his arms. He hides his head in your neck bend and a few moments he falls asleep with a smile on his face.
He couldn’t stop himself from posting some things on Ted’s Instagram page for his personal feeling. Pictures that Ted prefers not to watch for the Internet, but Jake doesn’t care; in a few hours, Ted will never have access to the Internet again. Hopefully Ted makes friends in prison fast, or it won’t be so funny for him.
Well, don’t mess with the hacker’s love.
----------
When you open your eyes, Jake still lies peacefully asleep beside you.
His hair stands wildly off his head and he has put his arms protective around you. Immediately a feeling of home spreads within you and you smile.
His body nestles warm against yours and you wish you could always wake up like that.
Bu, if you didn’t have to use the bathroom.
Carefully peel out from under his arms without waking him.
With leaving Jake’s arms and getting out of bed, the first pictures of last night immediately come back into your head. A few moments you stare at the wall before you shake your head. You don’t want to think about it. Actually, you never want to have to think about it again, you just want to forget it, focus on everything that’s more important now. And this is you, your feeling that you don’t want to get involved in this situation, you don’t want to leave room for this man. You don’t want him to have room in your life, and you don’t want to investigate any further. Actually, you don’t want to know who this guy is. You just want to focus on how lucky you were, that everything went well, that Jake saved you, and that nothing happened to you.
Jake!
You want to focus on Jake! And most importantly, that you finally want to be with him! He was there to save you right away. He was ready to help you immediately, he protected you, especially the way he protected you. The way he sounded, as if he was doing everything he could to save you. And this irrational fear that this could not work with you two, it’s bullshit! You want him with everything he has and you don’t want to be just friends anymore. You long for his lips, for his kisses that don’t just go on your forehead or cheek. You want to finally be able to say that you are a couple, you want him so badly, so damn badly.
Like a miracle cure, the thought of Jake really distracts you. You didn’t even know where your thoughts went, it just happened. But it always is, it’s just in every corner of your mind.
-
After you left the bathroom, you turned on the coffee machine. You’d stay awake and pass the time until Jake wakes up and you could have some breakfast. While the coffee is cooking, you drop down on the small sofa in the hacker’s living room and decide to pass the time with a little bit TV.
You switch through the channels looking for something interesting but don’t really find something you like.
When the Coffee machine gives you confirmation that the hot drink is ready, you quickly jump up and leave the remote control there.
While you prepare your coffee, you listen to an advertisement about an electronic toothbrush and then one about the latest vacuum cleaner.
With your cup you go back and then put a thin blanket from the sofa around your legs.
The News Show that you sometimes see starts broadcasting.
And you really expected a lot, really a lot, but you never expected what was actually going on.
While the news announcer reports on a gang crime, a picture is displayed. There’s a man to be seen, and you’re a thousand percent sure that’s the man who chased you yesterday.
Silently and with your mouth open you are listening as a whole gang was arrested, warehouses and factories were stormed. Drugs and counterfeit money were confiscated and in the end, how a hacker uncovered all this.
During the narration about hacking another channel and the materials shown there such as images and video, your heart begins to beat faster and faster.
And when it is shown what was published there, you put your hand infront your mouth in shock.
"Oh my-" you watch the camera shots where you can clearly see the street, which is only a few streets away from your apartment.
And then you see a censored shadow running, a few moments later a man.
You and the man who was now identified as Ted.
Jake.
That was Jake, you know it!
You don’t know how to react. While the pictures and videos scare you, since this man met you yesterday, you feel moved to tears on the other side. When the hell did he do that?
Did he do it because of you?
Where does he get so much information? Sure, he’s a hacker but THAT?
When the news anchor finally ends her post with the words "This man will probably never see the light of day again" and "The whole Internet speaks about this man and the victim who was persecuted by him. When you see this, we wish you all well!"
You have the feeling that you are breathing again for the first time. Like you’ve been holding your breath all this time without noticing.
You stutter at things, try to explain, sort out and understand your feelings. But somehow, just like last night, it’s too unreal.
"You shouldn’t know that in this way"
Startled you turn around as Jake’s sleepy voice appears behind you.
He's leaning in the door frame and yawns once.
With an open mouth you stare at him, "Did you-?" but you break off immediately because you have no idea what to say.
"Is everything okay? Shouldn’t I have do that? I wanted to tell you myself but now it’s too late. I wanted to teach you gently," explains the hacker, and his gaze slowly turns into a worried one.
"Did you- I mean- you were -" you stutter, can’t bring out a normal sentence. Point you to the TV, to you and back to Jake.
"I’m sorry, MC, I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything," he explains straight away." It was just, I don’t know, I was so mad! I still am! This disgusting bastard was following you, he-"quickly breaks off. His hands are clenched into fists, his eyebrows pulled together and his breath accelerated. However, he doesn’t want to remind you unnecessarily, even if that didn’t work out so well through the news. He really has to hold back from screaming completely and somehow making sure that Ted gets more than what he already has.
"No Jake, I-I" you just can’t find the right words and before you know it, you threw yourself awkwardly over the sofa, rolled over it and stood two steps later directly in front of Jake. Without control, you reach into his neck with one hand and pull his head down towards you. Not quite gently your lips hit on his.
And just as quickly as the kiss came about, you finish it as quickly.
"Oh, um, I... so.. I-" you laugh nervously, still holding his head. "Um, sorry?"
Jake also laughs nervously.
"I shouldn’t have done that," a little embarrassed, you let go of his neck and kick a few steps away from him.
"No, no, everything was fine, I thought it was great, so I mean-" a slight redness adorns Jake’s cheeks.
"Sorry" you mumble with a much too high voice and try yourself on a grin that probably looks like you’re in pain. Jake makes an waving off hand move, then it’s quiet between you for a moment. You chew on the inside of your cheek and let your foot slide across the floor in a semicircle, "Did you..- Did you say you thought it was great?" You ask as unimpressed as possible, as if it were a question about the weather.
Jake’s eyes grow big, "Did you find it bad?"
"No, no, of course not!" you assure him quickly." It was great, I would do it again and again."
You sigh.
Smiling, you put one hand to your forehead and look back at the hacker. Jake smiles too, and then you start laughing out loud. Until you have to hold your stomach and the first tears run out of your eyes.
"We’re so ridiculous," you chuckle, shaking your head over you two.
"Do you think?" Jake asks, grinning, "I find us great together"
"Me too" you agree and look back at him.
"Jake I-"
"MC I-"
At the same time you start to speak and then both of you are immediately silent to let the other go first.
"Do you first" you offer and he returns it to you.
"No, I’m fine, say what you wanted to say," you confirm.
"I can wait, you start"
You’re twisting her eyes again.
However, Jake understands this wrong and at the same time the magic words leave your lips "I love you"
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Masterlist
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And thank you @a-d-alison your submission gave me a lot of motivation🤭❤️
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aureatescars · 9 months ago
Text
He doesn't want to admit to it, but today has taken a toll on him. The journey itself was tiring enough, but by now his back hurts and what little sensation registers in his legs is pins and needles. He may have exhausted himself by maneuvering around the kitchen, stretching to reach above the counter and stove to work on their dinner for over an hour likely wasn't the best call.
Sasha would like to say it's all worth it when Leon smiles like this and compliments his cooking, but he can't ignore how everything seems to ache now that he has nothing to distract himself from it anymore.
He takes a deep breath and focusses on letting the tension fade from his expression, works to unclench his jaw, but he doesn't quite succeed. Then, he nods.
"Yes, I think I should go lie down." He may need some painkillers, too. There is a whole list of pills he needs to take before bed, but before that, there is the matter of getting ready to lie down. Change his clothes, wash up and brush his teeth... His lips press together in a tight line as just the thought makes him dread the most mundane of things. He hasn't even taken a look at the bathroom yet. Will the wheelchair fit? Will he be able to keep himself standing up for the few minutes it would take him to clean up? There is no nurse to call, there are no handrails to help him, no stool to rest on should his legs give out, and they will, judging by how little feeling he has had in them all day.
Sasha casts his eyes down, absentmindedly picking at what little is left of his food. That sense of shame returns as it always does when he has to ask for help. "Would you mind—" helping me get ready? He can't quite bring himself to ask and he isn't sure whether he should curse his pride or be grateful for it keeping him from making himself even more weak infront of Leon. But as it stands, he sways to a different question. "—Would you mind getting me my medication from the bag? The pain is getting worse..." It's no lie, and maybe a little more than he should have admitted to.
Back in the hospital, the nurse and him had a system. A scale of one through ten when speaking about his pain. One is him barely feeling any pain at all, which usually equates to next to no sensation in his legs, too, and ten quickly became synonymous with pain induced nausea, lightheadedness and dizzy spells, as well as his chest and lower back throbbing with a dull ache when doing barely anything more than breathing, warranting a higher dose of painkillers just to think straight, let alone move.
The last few days the pain had been at a steady four to five, increased tension in his back and shoulders and the aforementioned numbness paired with prickling sensation in his legs being the worst of his symptoms. Usually, it was made worse depending on how far Sasha pushed himself during physical therapy, and this level of pain became a familiar feeling. It's something he is very slowly getting used to, a baseline of discomfort, of pain.
However, it's something he kept to himself. Whenever Leon asked him how he was feeling the answer he'd give was along the lines of fine. His nurse scolded him for it once after Leon left. She told him fine is not on the scale, that in terms of pain fine would be a 0.
Sasha disagreed, does so still, but looking at the furrow of Leon's brow now that he has admitted to being in constant pain he can't help but wonder if Leon would be on her side in that argument. Today, the threshold of fine was pushed and prodded until it was barely in the realm of bearable. The aching inching ever higher past a six into a seven on the scale.
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"I'm fine," he says near automatically. His words sound like a lie, even to his own ears. Sasha can't help but falter and fidget when he sees Leon raise a brow at him. The wheelchair creaks quietly as he adjusts his posture. "It just gets worse in the evening."
That at least, is the truth.
Despite his determination to cook for Leon, Sasha realizes quickly that it's difficult to prepare anything in a kitchen that's not specifically designed to be maneuvered in a wheelchair like he is trying to do right now. His only saving grace for getting any work done at all is that he is tall enough to reach at least somewhat comfortably onto the countertops, but there is no room for him to tug the wheelchair under, so he is left angling himself somewhat awkwardly to be able to go about dicing and combining ingredients.
Maybe on days where his legs are more likely to obey him he'd be able to stand while cooking, would be able to regain asense of normalcy that way, but today using anything beyond the two front burners of the stove is out of the question.
His head turns when Leon comes back inside, meeting his eyes. He gives him a small smile which he hopes hides the frustration he feels about having found yet another problem to circumnavigate, and here he at least has Leon to assist should he need it, he doesn't know what he will do once he returns home. Van he truly live like this? On his own?
He shakes the thought, realizing belatedly that he is blatantly staring at Leon while the other man stacks the logs and works on getting a fire going for them. Sasha turns his attention resolutely back to the pan.
It's odd how... nice this feels, how domestic, knowing Leon to be here calms him down and his words make Sasha smile wider. "It's tempting, isn't it? To just stay here?" He has felt that way before, too. Here everything feels far away. Peaceful. They've not been here long at all and yet he can already feel himself unwind more and more, frustrations about his condition set aside.
Still, he didn't think Leon would be the type to think of retirement. He seemed so driven, so married to his convictions, his cause, but then again so was Sasha before meeting him—
This thought he casts aside as well, suddenly becoming aware of the fact he is risking burning the eggs if he keeps getting distracted by his own thoughts. Leon doesn't speak up again for quite some time, and Sasha gets carried away making all kinds of typically American breakfast foods. Pancakes, eggs, bacon... JD would have been proud.
A sense of melancholy overcomes him, even as he makes his way back to the living room, an odd sense of deja vu has him half expect seeing his childhood friend sitting on the couch, but instead, he finds Leon there, not sitting, but rather spawled out, features slack with sleep, looking indefinitely younger like this, less worn, less tense. It surprises him how much he has to fight himself in order to not reach out and brush a few strands of hair out of Leon's face, and have his hand make for his shouler instead.
He feels bad for waking Leon, even more so when he watches tension return full force at the gentle shake he gives his shoulder. Sasha didn't mean to startle him, thinks that maybe he should have just let him sleep, but Leon really should eat, and then likely head to bed early. It's been a long day after all.
"Not long," he assures him. "But dinner is ready. Would you mind giving me a hand setting the table?" Most of the plates are stored in the upper cabinets of the kitchen, leaving Sasha unable to do yet another simple task on his own.
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odos-bucket · 3 years ago
Text
In Which Each of Bruce’s Kids Come Out to Him
and then he comes out to them
Dick
They’re working on opposite sides of the coffee table in one of the manor’s more habitable sitting room’s. It’s become a regular part of their weekday routine: Bruce finishes up whatever office work he has to do, while Dick does his homework, and talks about his day. Usually there are snacks involved. A parenting book Bruce had read recommended trying to get their work done together. It’s a good way to keep connected with their increasingly busy schedules.
“So anyways…” Dick’s story is starting to slow down a little bit, and the shift in tone has Bruce glancing up from his paperwork. “I should probably tell you, since, well, everyone knows at school now.” His voice is still conversational, and relaxed, but a little distracted.
Bruce shifts him his full attention.
“See, what happened was Cameron Josephs in my third period biology class came to school with nail polish on today, which I noticed with my clever detective skills, and promptly dismissed as unimportant, and everyone else noticed with their nosy pre-teen skills, and promptly lost their shi- I mean, minds over. And that was Mrs. Horton’s class, and she has absolutely no control over her students, so it sort of became this whole big thing. Kids were making fun of him, and other kids were yelling at them to knock it off, and he was just trying to do his work, but the rest of the class got into a big fight. And then Brad Cormick- he’s on my basketball team- made a homophobic joke, and we were sitting at the same table, and I could tell that he wanted me to laugh at it. So I told him to shut up, and said that I was bisexual, not that any of it really had anything to do with anything else that was going on, but it did get him to shut up, which was good. Except that I think it may have been because I have more friends than Cameron does, which is totally unfair, and everyone should just be nice to everyone else no matter what, but also I guess not really the point… The point is, yeah, I’m bi. Oh, also frog dissection got moved to tomorrow because one kid threw up.”
Dick takes a deep breath (finally) and a long sip of his juice, before immediately returning to doodling athletic stick figures in the margins of his algebra homework.
Bruce studies him for a moment, trying to figure out what kind of response is expected of him, what would be helpful for Dick to hear. He’s really not very good at this kind of thing.
He’s saved from the risk of putting his foot in his mouth when the science class story continues.
“Are frogs really that gross? I don’t think they are. But I guess our basement is filled with guano, so maybe my tolerance is heightened by regular exposure to the substance most frequently equated with insanity.”
Dick hadn’t seemed nervous before coming out, or relieved after. And if he’s not going to make it into a big deal then neither is Bruce, even if a part of him feels pleasantly warmed by the casual show of trust.
Jason
Bruce loves picking up his kids from school. It’s not something that his schedule allows him to do very often, and Jason- as Dick had been before him- always seems pleasantly surprised to see him. It’s a little thing in the grand scheme, but it’s just nice, normal. And he would never say it out loud- he’s not sure why, he knows he should- but he cherishes the little bit of extra time spent with his boys.
But today Jason isn’t happy to see him.
Bruce pulls up to the curb, and only has to scan the crowd of teenagers for a few seconds before spotting him. He’s on a bench with another student, their shoulders pressed together despite wide swaths of free space available on either side of them. Jason’s pointing out something in a textbook, while the other boy plays with his free hand.
Bruce pulls slightly to the side to let another car drive around him, figuring he’ll give Jason a few minutes to finish up, and notice that Bruce is there, rather than call out and risk embarrassing him.
It’s not even a full minute before they make eye contact across the lot, and immediately something in Jason’s expression changes. His eyes go wide and startled, his posture suddenly tightened. In one fast motion he shuts his book with both hands, muttering something to his friend as he practically throws himself off the bench.
Now feeling on high alert, Bruce sweeps an intense gaze over the school yard for anything that could have upset his son. He doesn’t manage to spot anything before Jason arrives at the car and pulls himself into the backseat (where he never sits, unless the front is already occupied). He starts talking before Bruce can ask what’s wrong.
“That wasn’t what it looked like!”
Bruce frowns, and looks over both Jason and the area in front of the school in an attempt to identify something that isn’t like how it looks.
“He just-“ Jason flinches, seemingly realizing something wrong with whatever he’d been about to say, and cuts himself off with a sharp breath. “I mean-“
Feeling lost is by no means a new part of parenthood for Bruce, and he’s sure it’s something he’ll experience many more times going forward. But, god, he really hates not understanding what’s going on, not knowing what to do, and he doubts that he’ll ever get used to it.
“Jason,” he tries. “Slow down.”
“Yes, sir,” Jason answers automatically. “Sorry.”
It’s been over a year since Jason’s called him ‘sir’ and the sudden reintroduction of the honorific sends a cold chill down Bruce’s spine. For a second they just stare at each other, with what Bruce is pretty sure are matching expressions of partially concealed horror.
“Jason,” he says more quietly.
“I know,” Jason interrupts. “I’m sorry. Please-“ He stops himself, covering his mouth before he can finish the thought, and then just as quickly lowering the hand back to his lap.
Another silence follows, short but harrowing. Then finally Bruce makes a rare admission
“I have no idea what’s happening right now.”
Jason stares at him, and the wider his eyes get the younger he looks, and the more Bruce wants to scoop him up into his arms. But he just waits, and tries not to look too expectant.
“I-I was holding hands with Derek,” Jason breaths out.
“…Alright?” He’s heard that name before. Jason doesn’t have as many friends at school as Dick had, so they’re a little easier to keep track of, even if Bruce has only ever met any of them in passing. “Is this someone you’re worried I’ll embarrass you in front of?” He asks after a brief pause.
Jason keeps staring at him, expression crinkling as his breathing grows erratic.
Bruce finds himself automatically exaggerating his own inhales and exhales, resting the side of one hand against his sternum, to remind Jason of some of their breathing exercises.
“That’s it, chum,” he says as he sees it slowly begin to work. “Everything’s okay.” For all he knows- or doesn’t know- right now it might not even be true, but dammit for his kid he will make everything okay.
“Everything’s okay,” Jason obediently echoes.
Bruce takes his hand off his chest, and starts to reach towards him. But Jason flinches away from him, not as violently as he had back when they were still new to each others’ lives, but it’s enough to make Bruce feel sick. He can practically feel the wrongness of it squeezing his heart into shards as he slowly withdraws his arm back into the front seat. He had truly thought that they had gotten past this.
“I’m sorry, Jay,” he says softly, a small concession to the part of himself that wants to beg his son’s forgiveness for whatever he’s done to make him afraid. “I’m so sorry.”
Jason’s not looking at him anymore. His head is down, and his gaze is fixed on his knees.
Bruce hesitates.
“I’ll never hurt you.” It’s a reassurance he had thought they were past the point of needing, but if they aren’t he’ll say it as many times as he has to. “Never.”
“Are you mad?”
“Is there something particular that I’m supposed to be mad about?” Bruce asks carefully.
“... That I was holding hands with a guy,” Jason elaborates, after a steadying breath.
Oh, Bruce is an idiot. What kind of detective is he if he can’t even- He cuts himself off, realizing he can’t wait too long to respond to that.
“Of course not. That’s what this is about?”
“I never meant for you to find out,” is the response he gets. And doesn’t that just hurt like hell to hear?
“That you like boys?” Bruce confirms.
“And girls, both. But I didn’t know what you’d think, so I figured if I couldn’t be sure it was better to keep it to myself.”
Bruce closes his eyes, taking a second to calm his own breathing.
“I never want you to feel like that,” he says. “About anything. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear. I love you, Jaylad, that isn’t contingent on anything.”
I wish I could have protected you from whatever it was that made you feel like this was something you had to hide. He doesn’t say it.
Jason is finally looking at him again, gaze thoughtful and careful. A long moment passes, before he surprises- and momentarily terrifies- Bruce by getting out of the car. But before he can react to that, Jason’s climbing into the passenger seat, and after a second of hesitation, leaning into Bruce’s side.
“Okay,” he says quietly, sounding a little choked up.
Bruce puts an arm around his shoulders. The closeness is a balm after the pain of having his son flinch away from him.
Tim
Tim isn’t supposed to come over today. His parents are in town, and Bruce had made a point of hiding his reluctance when he’d given Robin the week off, chastising himself for the empty nest syndrome he has no right to be experiencing- at least in regards to this particular child.
So he’s surprised when he hears Alfred’s throat clear, and looks up to see both Alfred and Tim lingering in the doorway to his office. It would be odd to see him here at this time of day even if they had been planning to go on patrol; sunset is still a few hours off.
Bruce immediately has a bad feeling. He knows it’s commonplace for the Drakes to disappear unexpectedly partway through whatever length of time they were meant to be spending at home. As Batman it’s made his life easier numerous times. As a parent it’s beyond his comprehension. If he still had his boys at home- but he can’t think about that, not without breaking down, and if Tim’s just been abandoned that’s the last thing he needs.
As he approaches the door, Alfred’s pointed look, and Tim’s vacant expression confirm that he’s right to be concerned.
“Tim.” He keeps his voice neutral. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”
He picks up on Alfred’s glare a fraction of a second too late to realize that he’s said the wrong thing.
“I’m sorry.” There’s something miserable in Tim’s voice, that makes Bruce want to bundle him up in a blanket. Before he can assure him that he has nothing to apologize for, Alfred cuts in.
“I told Master Tim that he’s welcome to stay with us for as long as he needs.”
Bruce nods automatically, looking down at Tim, who’s glassy expression looks a million miles away.
“Tim,” he says gently, eventually drawing the boy’s gaze, but feeling disconcerted by how delayed the response is.
Alfred leaves with a comment about putting a kettle on for tea, closing the door firmly but softly behind him. The sound it makes as it pulls all the way shut still makes Tim twitch.
“Do you want to sit down?” Bruce offers.
Tim stumbles a bit on his way to the couch. He’s so out of it; He won’t be patrolling tonight, even if his schedule’s suddenly open for it. Bruce sits down on the other side.
“Are they gone again?” He asks, trusting fully that the vaguely worded question will be completely understood.
There’s a worrying delay before Tim shakes his head, giving Bruce ample time to wish for Alfred back before he can register the response enough to be surprised by it.
“So...“ he begins uncertainly, before being cut off.
“I’m sorry,” Tim says again. “I don’t mean to be a bother.”
“You aren’t a bother, Tim.”
The- admittedly somewhat monotone- assurance just gets him a shrug.
“Can you tell me what happened?” He tries.
“Do I have to?” Tim asks after a long silence. “Can’t I just stay here?”
Bruce frowns.
“Of course you can stay here. But I think I really need to know what’s going on.”
Tim stares at him, eyes shining, mouth opening and closing several times before he speaks.
“Can I- Alfred says I can tell you something, and you won’t get mad?”
“Well, that depends on what it is,” Bruce says, thinking back on every time a robin has had something to tell him, but first wanted confirmation that he wouldn’t be angry.
Tim seems to shrink at his words, his breath catching audibly as he curls in on himself. Fuck, Bruce is bad at this.
“What do you have to tell me?” He asks.
“Well now I don’t know if I want to!” It almost comes out as a yell, strained by the sound of held back tears, and Bruce is a little taken aback.
“I’ll probably find out at some point,” he reasons.
There’s a beat of silence, and then Tim chokes on something that sounds like a suppressed sob.
No, no, no no. This isn’t supposed to happen. Bruce reaches out for him in an awkward and hastily aborted movement.
“I can’t,” Tim says after a minutes, tears streaking over his pale cheeks. “If you don’t-“ His voice catches. “I need you to let me stay here.”
Bruce’s heart hurts as he scooches a little closer, reaching out to rest a hand- hopefully not too awkwardly- on Tim’s shoulder.
“Of course you can stay here,” he reiterates. “I told you you could stay here. Even if I’m mad at you you can stay here. If you-“ He searches for a moment. “-Took the batmobile out on a joyride, and drove it into the harbor, I’ll be mad at you, but you’ll still have a place here. One will never have anything to do with the other.”
Tim makes a noise that’s over too quickly for Bruce to be able to tell if it had been a laugh, or just more crying.
“Did Jason do that?” He asks in a hoarse voice.
“Dick,” Bruce corrects.
This time Tim definitely snorts, which has Bruce smiling in spite of himself.
“Did you do something worse than that?” He asks.
It’s meant to be a joke, but Tim makes an unhappy face at the question.
“I- no!” He says, defensive, but confident. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”
Bruce gives his shoulder a squeeze before releasing it.
“Then why would I be mad at you?”
The humor that had begun to make its way into Tim’s expression disappears again, and Bruce curses himself.
“Mom and Dad were mad,” he says quietly.
Bruce scowls. He tries pretty hard not to let his dislike of Jack and Janet show around Tim- though he’s long suspected the young detective can tell- but it’s harder to hide sometimes than others.
“You said they were still home,” he remembers. “Tim, did they kick you out?” He does his best to keep the anger out of his voice.
And then he finds himself doing his best to keep the anger off of his face when it takes Tim a moment to answer the question.
“I don’t think forever,” he says uncertainly. “Just- They said they needed time to think about it, to d-decide what to do.”
The slight stutter puts him over the age, and fury starts to trickle into Bruce’s voice.
“To think about what?” He demands. Hell, that place is more Tim’s home than it is theirs. They have absolutely no right to ask him to leave! And where the hell do they expect him to go? Bruce forces himself to clench his jaw, and take deep breaths.
“...I’m gay,” Tim finally says.
Bruce stares at him for the second that it takes for the words to register, and connect back to the rest of the conversation.
“That’s it?”
He’s wincing at himself before the question is all the way out of his mouth, immediately convinced that he’s said the wrong thing again. But then, to his immense relief, he realizes that Tim has started laughing. It isn’t deep, or sustained. His voice is still a little weak, and his eyes are still a little red. But he’s definitely laughing, and Bruce realizes vaguely that a robin laughing is still his favorite sound in the world.
“That’s it,” Tim confirms, on the tail end of his laugh.
“Oh, Tim.”
Bruce doesn’t give himself a chance to second guess the motion before he pulls the boy into a hug, satisfied that it was the right course of action when he feels Tim melt against him.
“Of course I’m not mad, of course I’m not mad,” he repeats like a mantra. “I’m sorry I let you think I would be. You’re right, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
A few seconds pass, and he realizes there’s a wet patch at his shoulder where Tim’s face is buried. Bruce freezes, totally unsure of what he’s done wrong this time.
“I’m sorry,” Tim breaths out. “I- thank you. Thank you! I don’t know what I would have done if- I- I don’t want to be alone!”
“Not alone,” Bruce promises. “You’re not alone. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”
Tim presses closer, and Bruce takes it as a cue to tighten his hold.
Alfred finds them like that a few minutes later, Tim curled up in his arms, while Bruce cycles through reassurances. The look they exchange is enough to confirm that they’re both thinking the same thing: this kid is ours.
Cass
One day Cass hangs a little pride flag up on her door. Later in the week when she catches Bruce glancing at it, she comes up to him, gives the flag a meaningful nod, before just saying, “Girls!” in a happy voice, giving him a hug, and disappearing down the hall.
Damian
Bruce can identify every member of his family by their knock, but Damian’s is particularly distinctive. Not just because it tends to come from a lower part of the door, but because Damian has cultivated a strong knock, the way businessmen cultivate a strong handshake. It’s a very confident and determined sound, that he often finds himself stifling a smile at, knowing that that isn’t at all the intended reaction.
“Come in,” he calls, and there’s no pause before Damian strides into his office, confident as ever. When he speaks however, the undercurrents of his voice tell a different story.
“Father, there is something I wish to discuss with you.” There are a few hesitations, that don’t quite manage to turn into stutters in his voice, ones it’s unlikely anyone outside of their family would notice.
Bruce doesn’t comment on them, just nods for Damian to sit down and continue.
His legs don’t fully reach the floor. Something else that Bruce has learned not to let himself smile at.
“Grayson says…” he begins confidently, before trailing off.
Bruce just raises an eyebrow for him to continue, not feeling like he has enough information to put anything together from at the moment.
“Richard says,” Damian continues more carefully. “He came out to you as bisexual when he was around my age?”
Bruce nods. He has a feeling that he knows where this is going this time.
“He did.”
“He said that you were okay with it?”
Bruce nods again.
“Dick is my son. My love for him isn’t conditional, certainly not on that. There’s nothing wrong with not being straight.”
Damian had broached the topic using Dick as a proxy, so Bruce had followed his lead and assumed that Damian would know to automatically apply the assurance to himself. But Damian’s face just falls into a puzzled frown.
“So why…” he begins, before changing track. “Richard isn’t your biological son.”
Bruce frowns back.
“Damian, you know that doesn’t make a difference to me. I don’t love your siblings any less because they’re not-”
“I know,” Damian cuts in. “It isn’t about loving us differently.” He says it very matter of factly. “I have the ability to carry on your bloodline, whereas they do not.”
“That ability isn’t an obligation,” Bruce says, wondering why his kids never seem to be able to just worry about normal things. “And it’s certainly not something that you need to be thinking about at thirteen years old.”
Damian nods slowly, staring down at the desk with a look of intense concentration, before slowly raising his gaze to Bruce.
“Mother and Grandfather said that you wouldn’t like it, if I wasn’t interested in girls,” he says quietly.
Bruce sighs. of-fucking-course they did. He gets up from his chair, and moves around the desk to kneel in front of Damian.
“Well they’re wrong,” he says simply. “And they had no right to lead you to believe that it would make any difference to me. Just like I don’t love your siblings any less, my love for you is no more conditional. Understand?”
It takes a moment, but Damian nods.
“All right. In which case, I suppose... I’m gay.”
“And I’m proud of you,” Bruce says, before pulling his son into a hug.
Bruce
Bruce looks at his assembled family, and begins to feel a strange sense of trepidation tickling at the edge of his consciousness.
They’re all here. Trying to get the whole family together all at once is like pulling teeth. But he told them it was important, and they all came. There have been plenty of points over the course of the years when that wouldn’t have happened. And even though they’ve all been pretty settled with each other for a while now, he never wants to take for granted having his whole family together- not that he thinks the part of him that only seems to settle when he has all of his children within arm’s reach would let him.
The comfort of having them all be together is overwhelming, but the trepidation is still there, just like it probably always will be any time he manages to round up the courage for anything resembling feelings talk.
They’re all in one of the living rooms, sprawled in a comfortable half circle across various couches and chairs.
“There’s something I wanted to tell you all,” Bruce starts to say.
“Are you dying?” Stephanie asks casually.
Beside her, Cass freezes, looking horrified.
“I’m not dying,” Bruce says quickly.
At the same time Steph rubs a hand up and down Cass’s arm and assures her she was kidding.
“Not like he’d tell us if he was,” Dick says.
He knows it’s meant to be a joke, just like Stephanie’s question had been, but it still sends a chill through him. Mostly because he can’t say for sure that Dick is totally wrong; it’s the kind of thing he easily could have kept to himself. But then he sees the uncertain frown that Damian is giving him, and Cass’s wide, anxious eyes, and decides that he has to be wrong.
“I’m not dying,” he repeats, reaching out for Tim who’s sitting closest to him, and who’s been staring very intently at the floor since the topic came up.
Tim leans into the touch without shifting his position.
“And I would tell you,” he adds seriously, feeling absolutely wracked with guilt over the fact that up until this moment he doesn’t know if he would’ve been able to claim that with any certainty.
“I swear, if there’s anything wrong with me, all of you will know as soon as possible.” By the time it comes out of his mouth, he knows he means it with total certainty.
“I think we’re all pretty tuned into the fact that there’s something wrong with you,” Jason offers, and the tension in the room breaks.
Bruce smiles despite himself. That was agonizing. Compared to that getting on with the conversation he’d previously been so apprehensive to have will be a relief.
“What did you want to tell us?” Duke asks.
“It can be… difficult for me to articulate what it means to me whenever one of you trusts me enough to share something about yourself. I thought that I owed it to all of you to return the favor, and share a… recent discovery of mine.” He stumbles through it as awkwardly as he’d expected to.
“This is weird,” Stephanie stage whispers.
“I’m bisexual,” Bruce admits.
“Bruce!” Dick says excitedly.
“Unacceptable,” Jason cuts in. “We already have enough of that nonsense in this house!”
Tim kicks him in the side.
“Well, seeing as it’s an option, I for one prefer the idea of you pursuing romantic entanglements that bear no risk of resulting in pregnancy.”
“Noted, Damian.”
“I’m happy for you, B,” Tim says. “It can be hard figuring yourself out.”
“Thank you, Tim.”
“Is that it?” Duke asks. “I mean, not that it’s not a big deal- and I’m happy for you too by the way- it’s just that most of our family meetings involve addressing some kind of crisis.”
“That’s it,” Bruce admits.
“Perhaps- seeing as we’re all here anyways- we could take this opportunity to have dinner together as a family for once,” Alfred offers.
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anystalker707 · 3 years ago
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Spicy horror
Pairing: Frank x [fem] Reader Word count: ~ 4 000 Genre: Smut / Fluff Summary: It's Halloween, and (y/n) and Frank finally confess their crushes to each other when binge watching horror movies on Frank's place. Kind of content: Praising / Protected / Oral
Requested by @thisisjustforrequestingfanfics (can't tag you, sorry hhh my T*mblr is acting weird)
a/n - I'm sorry that I coudn't proofread, I might do it soon; I was supposed to be asleep rn
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"You're just annoying, old man," I tease with a grin. "But don't whine or else you'll ruin the makeup!" I continue spreading the white concealer over his face, careful to get it on the corners around his nose and around his eye, though not to irritate his eyes.
"No, fuck you," Frank groans, his face twitching to suppress any expression. "Why can't we watch it again tonight? They're the best movies! And stop calling me old man, it's just my birthday! I'm not decomposing or anything!" Despite his words, he smiles, opening his eyes once I pull away, leaning back against the chair of the desk – I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, I agree." I grab the eyeshadow palette from the desk and move closer to him again. "TCM is a great series and all, but can we not watch it for a single week? It's your birthday and we can watch literally any horror movie! And it can be special, like, not something we've watched a thousand times already to the point we already know most of the lines." I glare before motioning for him to close his eyes.
Frank sighs grumpily, leaning his head back. "What are you planning on, then? Alien? Jaws?" He lets out a weird cry when I slap the side of his head lightly, though he is soon chuckling.
"And then you complain when I say how annoying you are!" I spread the dark eyeshadow over his eyes, humming. "It's been a while since we've watched The Howling, Evil Dead, House of Wax. I mean, 'm not gonna complain if we decide on Alien and Jaws either." He hums, pouting. "Don't worry, you're still my favorite old man." I press a kiss to his head.
"I hate you," he laughs.
After a little bit of fake blood and retouching on my makeup, the two of us are leaving Frank's house to go to school, waving his mother goodbye. We don't look like what most of the kids will go dressed up as – not putting enough effort nor choosing the same themes as the jocks and popular people and not invisible enough just to throw on whatever in a black theme. Frank looks like a chill vampire with Bela Lugosi's Dracula references, though still looking like a punk, while I decided on one of my favorite characters. Nothing too extra, but still in the vibe.
"You look ridiculous with that hair slicked back." I kick one of the pebbles on the sidewalk. "I prefer the hedgehog or whatever it is in the normal state."
"I honestly feel like I could kill someone just from biting their jugular off." He grins, throwing his nose in the air – I can't help but to chuckle; he's adorable. "But not gonna be anyone from school, they're not worth it neither their blood would taste good." He twists his mouth. "I feel like most I'd get would be booze, botox and steroids."
"Damn," I snort, "awfully accurate. You're gonna starve, sorry."
Frank pouts, looking down, but a smirk soon tugs on his lips as he takes a step closer. "But you're not that bad, baby, you know?"
"Oh, fuck off!" I roll my eyes, clicking my tongue. "You just want to get in my jugular!"
Both of us burst out in chuckles and our conversation eventually dies down when we walk past the gates to inside the school, replaced by jokes at other people's costumes, sometimes needing to hold onto each other from laughter.
We walk into the first class, already a bit late, but all it does is to attract everyone's attention the moment we step in.
"Ridiculous, as always," some girl mutters under her breath. Funny.
Frank wraps a hand around the length of the coat to stupidly bring it to cover the lower part of his face, looking around with narrowed eyes then wide ones. "I smell not just a lot of blood here," he says in a low and raspy voice, "but also stupidity!" He points at the girl judgingly, making her twist her mouth disgusted.
"I hope Freddy Krueger visits you tonight," I say when walking past her, patting her shoulder. A scream comes from her when noticing the fake blood stain I leave behind on her white outfit, having Frank and I chuckling on our way to the back.
No one really pays attention to the classes – it's Halloween, we're even in stupid clothes and anxious for whatever is going to happen later in the day, so the teacher doesn't even bother scolding Frank and I for talking nonstop in the back of the classroom. To be honest, I think only the goody two shoes are actually doing something, sometimes turning around to glare at the others.
"Okay, okay, shut up for a minute!" I tell Frank, taking a look at the messy words over my notebook to check if I forgot to write something down. "We've got The Howling, Alien, Evil Dead, House of Wax, Dawn of the Dead, Funhouse, Pumpkinhead..."
"Fright Night," Frank continues, "Opera, Cannibal Holocaust, Texas Chainsaw–"
"I said no TCM! Fuck you," I curse, rushing to write everything down, crossing out TCM when I accidentaly write it down.
"Friday the 13th, Poltergeist, Near Dark and Elm Street," he finishes, glaring at me. He hits my shoulder, not enough to hurt. "I'll make you watch TCM with me until you have memorized every single frame of it!"
"Your TCM phase will have died down by then!" I twist my mouth bitterly. "Sorry to kill the hype, baby!" I throw my nose in the air with a chuckle at his sulky manners. He furrows his eyebrows, sucking in a breath for words he never really gets to say. "And we still got to watch all these goth movies and shows lying around! Do you think it was easy finding the 60s Addams family show on DVD? Or that one Frankenstein version on cassette." Okay, the last one was easy to find in a yard sale, but still, it was just luck.
"Okay, mommy, please just don't punish me," Frank says with a groan and a fake moan. I stare at him as he's not able to contain his laughter before starting to hit him with the notebook.
"Too bad you're not a good boy, hun."
For once, school ends up actually being nice and just because Frank and I were getting in the character sometimes and pissing people off. By lunch, he had pulled on some sunglasses and looked like the stupidest fucker while eating his sandwich and smudging more of the lipstick and fake blood around his lips. At some point, we had pretended to have a fight and pierce the other's chest with a pair of scissors just to squeeze a bag of fake blood at whoever walked by – mostly some of the jocks or plastics. So much fun.
The house is quiet when we arrive back at it, a couple hours after school ended, and we find out, later, a note from Frank's mom apologizing she can't be here during the rest of his birthday, though she's sure he'll have fun with me.
"Imma take a shower," I sigh, pointing upstairs.
"Sure," he hums, looking up from the note for a moment to smile at me.
Thankfully, I always leave some clothes at Frank's place because I'm here far too often and not always have the chance or disposition to go back home and grab some clothes. It doesn't prevent me from stealing his hoodie, however, and walking out of the bathroom without all of that sticky makeup or fake blood is the best thing ever. Later, Frank is the one to go take a shower while I take care of the food he had already started to prepare.
"Much better!" I raise my eyebrows at the sight of Frank with his hair back to normal and only a bit of black makeup smudges the underside of his eyes now.
"Y'know, I never said a single thing about how you looked," he mutters with his brow low, coming to lean against the counter, next to me, "still, you've been attacking me every chance you got!"
"Does it offend you?" I smile.
"No, but it still hurts!" He sniffles, a hand flat against his chest. "I know I'm too badass for you to handle, but you don't need to let it be that clear!"
I look at him from head to foot. "I hate you, y'know that?"
"Love you too, hun!" He grins and moves closer, cupping my face exaggeratedly to peck my cheek before we head upstairs with everything we need.
We turn the lights on to organize everything, soon sitting down against a pile of pillows and with food surrounding us, though most of it is on the bedside tables since Frank, mainly, gets extremely uncomfortable with it falling on the bed. It doesn't matter, though, since the food and half empty cans end up going forgotten halfway through the movie at the same time the chatter dies down and we watch The Evil Dead as if it was the first time.
Some funny part comes on – well, not exactly funny, but enough to make us chuckle quietly – and brings us back to reality, sighing and glancing at each other, adjusting our postures as we'd slid down the pillows.
Frank yawns.
"Already tired?" I tease, poking his shoulder.
"No." He pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. "Getting tired is for losers." He does glance at the clock on his bedside table, however, and the red glowing numbers say it's six something.
"You're my favorite loser, then." I smirk lightly, exhaling.
Frank's eyebrows knit together as he looks at me, but then rolls his eyes. "Well, duh, of course I am! Who else? I'm the best." He scoots closer until his head is leaning on my shoulder and I can't help but to smile.
"No, I am," I groan, arms wrapped around him.
"I am!" He glares and, at some point, we end up in a wrestling match, pushing each other around the mattress among laughter and curses, which comes to a stop when we start getting too tired and I just let Frank lie down on top of me, head on my chest, still watching the movie. "Do you like anyone, (y/n)?" he asks suddenly. "Like, got a crush?"
Random. Why does he want to know? I mean, I do have a crush, but telling him about it is difficult.
"Um, yeah, I guess, why?" I blink, startled when he suddenly brings himself up on his elbows to stare at me.
"I swear to God I'll hunt them down if you forget about me because of them, do you understand?" Frank presses his forehead to mine. "You're the only one I got, sometimes I'm so worried you'll even leave me for whatever reason."
"What?" I breathe a chuckle, though there's not exactly anything funny here. "Never in my right mind would I do that! And you can't hunt my crush down if my crush is actually you," I laugh in a sudden rush of confidence, which wears out awfully quickly, leaving me lying there and rethinking every life choice.
"Me?" Frank widens his eyes. At the lack of answer, he takes a hold of my collar, straddling my hips. "Did I hear it right? Please, (y/n), (n/n), soulmate? I'm your goddamn crush? For how long?"
I shake my head lightly, shrugging. "Months? A long time."
"And you just told me now?" He cries, forehead pressed to my shoulder. "Slow motherfucker."
"I didn't want you to leave me either, c'mon!" I sigh in defeat, running a hand through his hair. "I remember that time a girl confessed to you and you'd simply vanish whenever she showed up. What if that was with me? I'd not be able to live like this, y'know that."
"Y'know, yeah, seeing it from that point..." Frank shrugs, bringing himself up to face me again. "Still, I wouldn't avoid you like that! Dunno, but it doesn't matter now because you just relieved me of months of suffering. Looking at these pretty lips without being able to kiss it." He furrows his eyebrows, eyes on my lips. "Can I kiss you, tho? Now that we feel stupid for all these months. Damn. At least I feel."
I breathe a chuckle. "Of course! Do you think I wasn't dying to do it either?"
Next thing I know are Frank's lips pressed against mine softly, soon growing firm with confidence. His fingers run along my neck lightly, in a caring manner, dropping to trace my collarbones.
"Also," Frank breathes, pulling away; his face never moves farther than a couple of inches whilst he adjusts his position, lying down beside me on the mattress. "Maybe it's wrong to say and I've always tried to say it in a subtle manner, but–" his eyes meet mine, "–you've got the body of a goddess! Like, dunno, sometimes you comment about not having an 'ideal', skinny body, but you're just so perfect," he groans, wrapping his arms around me tightly.
"Frank!" I tap on his back lightly. It's not that I don't like what he said – no, damn, it sends my heart fluttering, this warmth taking over my chest –, but is it really the truth? I didn't think it was possible for anyone to tell me this.
"No, I'm telling the truth!" Frank grins. "Like, your thighs and all. I just want to squeeze and bite you! Not in a bad way, I mean." I must give him a funny look because of how flustered he grows, tongue playing with his lip ring as he looks away. "There's a lot to unpack, fuck, I thought it was obvious how I always sit there gazing at you and shit, but..."
"Likewise." I glare playfully, making him chuckle.
"Y'know–" Frank smiles lazily, "–this is the best birthday I've ever had, by far." He brushes his lips against mine softly, watching me through half lidded eyes. "Never knew you'd actually like me back. Never believed it was possible, to be honest."
"I never cogitated you like me," I breathe.
"Well, okay," he says, "we've already gotten through this. I think we should focus on now."
"I'm not the one who keeps bringing back past thoughts!" I chuckle at how he pouts, scowling funnily.
"Shut up, shut up, I get it!" Frank rolls his eyes and presses his lips to mine before I can say anything, having me smiling against the kiss until returning it, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer. Now that we've finally kissed, keeping our lips off each others' feels almost impossible – letting go of each other feels almost impossible. "God fucking damnit," he groans under his breathe, moving to press kisses down my jaw, soon reaching my neck.
A sigh escapes my lips at the kisses, though it turns into quiet pleased sounds at the feeling of his teeth pulling at my skin and sometimes closing around it, sucking on it whilst all I can bring myself to do is tugging onto his hair. Suddenly, however, feeling his hands traveling down to my hips and squeezing them makes me gasp, probably reacting a bit more than I intended.
"What?" Frank pulls away at the same moment, eyes wide. "Did I do something wrong? Please– Damn, I'm so sorry!"
"N-No, no," I finally bring myself into speaking up, feeling my cheeks burn bright red. "I, um, I actually... liked it. A lot. Sorry if I scared you, I just wasn't expecting it. I don't mind, really," I insist as he continues looking at me with furrowed eyebrows.
"You sure?"
"Yeah!" I smile, bringing him for a quick kiss before he's trailing down my neck again.
Frank's hands go down my body, experimentally at first and then squeezing my hips again, receiving another reaction this time, including just a soft gasp as I push my hips up – a shiver runs down my spine with it, a nice one. Fuck.
"Damn..." Frank breathes, hands running down to my thighs then up again to slide under my shirt. "It's a bit early, maybe–" he shrugs, looking at me, "–but... is it okay if..."
Holy hell. "Of course," I say without thinking much – he continues to stare, so I nod.
"Fuck yeah," he mutters, lips against mine for a few seconds before he's pulling my shirt over my head and the expression on his face carries such admiration that I can't help but to feel embarrassed for a moment. He never lets me cover myself, nonetheless, hands flying to my waist to hold firmly onto it as he's pressing kisses from my stomach to my hip. "No, seriously–" he sits up again, "–how can someone be so perfect?" He seems to be talking mostly to himself, getting rid of his shirt.
"Dunno." I grin. "How does it feel to be so perfect, baby?"
Frank exhales shakily. "You'll be the death of me and I ain't even joking." He presses a kiss to my collarbone, starting to nibble down at the skin again, trailing down to my chest, lips sometimes lingering over my breasts – sure as hell he leaves a few marks behind, considering how invested he gets.
Something tells me he doesn't know what to focus on. His hands never stay in the same place for too long, going down my thighs then trailing up to my waistband, up my torso, and then he repeats it.
"C'mon," I mutter, placing his hands on my waistband. He's a bit hesitant, but quickly undoes the buttons and starts pulling it down – I help him, kicking the pants away in the end.
A string of curses slip past Frank's lips as he quickly gets rid of his jeans too and, when coming back, he kneels down between my legs this time, spreading them apart. Our lips are yet again locked in a kiss, different from the others, more heated up and urgent this time as we hold onto each other. I play with the hair on the back of his neck and tug onto it instead at the feeling of his hands around my ass, groping.
"Frank, damn," I breathe quietly for a second we pull apart and, opposite to earlier, he gets the hint and does it again, humming against my lips. Once he stops groping, his hands just run along my skin, up and down my body, sometimes lingering. The most lovesick look decorates his face when he pulls away. My heart.
I place my hands on Frank's shoulders as I sit up, changing our positions. He observes me with wide eyes and I smile at him before pressing kisses to his neck, leaving behind a hickey before I can go lower and lower until my fingers are around the waistband of his boxers and I pause, looking up at him, and continue after he nods.
Frank's already half hard, a breath hitching in his throat as, after discarding his boxers, I assume my previous position.
Even if it's not the first time I've done that, this nervousness still lies under my skin as I wrap a hand around him, pumping him lightly before wrapping my lips around the head experimentally. He breathes sharply.
Only halfway through it that I allow myself to look up at Frank, pausing for a moment after finding out he's been watching, propped up on his elbows, eyes focused on me and jaw slack, but I don't look away, hollowing my cheeks instead and watching him break under my gaze, letting go of all the tension for a second.
I repeat the motions a few times and pull away, licking up along the underside, around the tip, and he's suddenly pulling me away – eyes wide and face flushed this time.
Frank mumbles something I can't quite understand, but it doesn't really matter. He moves closer, both of us soon assuming the position we were in minutes ago, pressed against each other. Now, he removes my underwear and his hand slips between us, however.
Pleasure is sent ringing up my spine at the feeling of Frank's fingers slipping past my lips, quickly finding my clit and wasting no time on working his thumb on it while a couple of fingers tease my entrance. Moans just escape my throat easily after he breaks the kiss, mouthing his way until the inside of one of my thighs – he bites and sucks on the skin there. His tongue is suddenly there, then, against my clit, working around it before being replaced by his lips and my vision goes fucking blank when I can feel him sucking on it.
"Fuck," Frank curses once pulling away, moving to frantically rummage through the nightstand's drawer; I groan at the loss of touch, pushing my hips up into nothing.
Hearing the sound of foil being torn makes me understand what's happening, and I watch him rush to slip the condom on, giving us a moment to catch our breath before he's positioning himself, a hand on my hip whilst another holds himself up.
"Tell me if there's something wrong, okay?" he asks slowly, "I'll stop right away. Don't be afraid."
"Same to you," I say softly, cupping his face to pull him for a soft, quick kiss.
Frank smiles with a nod and looks down before I can feel him against my entrance, pushing in slowly. I wrap my arms around his shoulders tightly, feeling his chest vibrate against mine with the low moan coming from him, replaced by a sigh once he sinks in completely. He starts moving right away, hips jerking experimentally before attaining a heavy and slow pace which doesn't last long due to how needy we are already.
I gasp at how he thrusts in harder, wrapping my arms around his shoulders to hold him close and having my legs around his hips, instinctively.
Curses and praises are breathed into my ear among moans, somehow making the pleasure pool down in my lower stomach even more intensely, summed up to feeling his hands groping on my ass again, fingers sinking into the skin.
"You're just so perfect, (y/n)," he babbles, "and even better that now you're all mine."
Suppressing a louder moan turns out to be impossible at the feeling of Frank's hips reaching a certain angle and, soon, the answer I had in my slips away from my grasp and all there's left is just how good he feels. I travel a hand up to his hair, remembering how he reacted to it earlier, and tug on it in a form of response, though also wanting to hear how pathetically he moans at it.
"'M gonna cum," I manage to say before being cut off by a moan, arching my back.
"Me too, babe," he groans, "almost there."
Frank pauses, adjusting himself so a hand is under my thigh and another on the mattress for major support and his thrusts are suddenly harsher. I throw my head back at the same time, holding onto him tightly, and it doesn't take long for all the pleasure that had been building up so far to unravel at once – it apparently triggers the same on him, considering how tight his grasp gets whilst a higher pitched moan comes from him.
Coming down from the high, I feel almost numb, in a good way. Frank pulls away and I'm only aware of him when he's lying down next to me, both of us breathing heavily and unable to do anything aside from staring at the ceiling for a long moment.
"Damn, I love you so much, so much," he mumbles again.
I breathe a chuckle, feeling him cuddling up to me, arms wrapped around me. "And I love you, dumbass." I press a kiss to his head.
"My girlfriend now, right?" he asks. "Nevermind, you don't get to choose." He chuckles, though it quickly dies down. "Just kidding, okay? Tell me to and I'll fuck off."
I laugh, still breathless. "Of course I am. I didn't confess for nothing."
102 notes · View notes
skei-seems · 4 years ago
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Professor Reid (PART 2)
(Click here for PART 1:)  https://skei-seems.tumblr.com/post/642651570175148032/professor-reid
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Summary: (con’t) After a steamy interaction with her professor on a school trip and a bad misunderstanding, Y/N tries to make up for her mistake when a new opportunity arises.
Pairing: Spencer Reid x (female) reader
Category: Smut [NSFW]
Warnings: Smut, Age Gap, Swearing
A/N: Thank you for all the love on part 1. Please like/reblog, I would really love to hear your thoughts and feel free to send me requests. Hope you guys like it! :)
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Spencer didn’t know what had caused you to change so suddenly, he wanted to talk but you were so good at avoiding him. He wanted to tell you it was all a mistake, that it never should have happened, but the other part of him wanted, no needed, you in every way.  Prior to the trip he dealt with a bad breakup - his girlfriend cheated on him - and it had pushed him far enough to want your sweetness and innocence more than ever.  If only you would let him talk to you...
      A sharp wind of breath swirled into his lungs when he saw you that evening, you looked breathtaking.  Your hair flowed perfectly around your face, and your body fit so well in your tight clothing, he adored that you always wore sneakers despite the rest of the group’s formal attire.  He just couldn’t avert his eyes from this goddess of a woman.
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      He was looking at you like a meal.  Those melting eyes still sent shivers down your spine. Annoyed, you occupied yourself with your phone while the group waited in line.  The booming music made it difficult to hear yourself think once you were all inside.  The place was modern and extremely crowded, and the music more popular and recent.
      The song playing was not to your taste, though there was something about the loudness sending vibrations through your chest, and the strong amount of perfume and cologne in the air that reverberated into an intense excitement in the pit of your stomach.  Some of the group seated themselves at a table overlooking the crowded dance floor, the rest scattered out to join the dancing bodies or to get drinks. After getting a drink, you took a seat across from Professor Reid. He watched you tentatively through the first bit of the night, and you shifted a little your seat. Those penetrating brown eyes through his blonde curls had the tendency to burn holes in you.
      You bit your lip, an idea had lit up in you. You downed the last of your drink and headed straight into the crowd, and joined their rhythmic movements. Soon, a good looking guy your age started to dance with you. He was cute, you couldn’t deny that, but he wasn’t... him. Nevertheless, it was part of your plan. Initiating phase two, you moved closer until you were dancing like you and Spencer had the other night. Your eyes wandered around until they landed on him, he was staring at you, eyes lit with a fire that you could see even from the distance where you were standing. You smirked, and continued moving without breaking eye contact. Suddenly, and without warning, the handsome stranger you were tangling with pushed his tongue down your throat. OK, none of that, you thought to yourself. It had not been part of your plan. Fed up, you pushed the horny man off of you and strode out of the club.
      The fresh air was a relief like no other. Not even halfway through a night at the club, and you had already had enough. You rested against the wall of the building, a spot where there wasn’t a crowd of people waiting in line. Before you could make a move to start walking home, a slim body appeared in front of you.
“What was that about?” Professor Reid’s voice came out as husked, right against your face as he pushed both of his hands on the wall beside your face, trapping you between him and the wall.
Unable to conjure up an explanation in the closed proximity, you gulped and looked into those two orbs of honey. 
You pushed him away, regaining some posture. “What was that about? Really,” you spat out. “What’s you-having-a-girlfriend about?!”
The bit of shouting had caused adrenaline to course through your body, your chest was heaving. He looked taken aback at your accusation.
“What do you mean?” he asked, his tone changing to a much softer one.
“I heard you on the phone in the cafeteria.”
He slowly took a deep breath. “That was my little sister, really.” 
      The look in his eye told you he wasn’t lying, you didn’t have to be a profiler to see that. For a moment you were dumbstruck, but the professor spoke again before the silence stretched too long.
“I did have a girlfriend,” this information came differently as you previously took it, when it was just an assumption. “I broke up with her not long ago,” he looked away, “she cheated on me.”
      Guilt quickly built up in you, unlike it had before when you thought you would be a wedge in someone else’s relationship. No, this was something new, something mixed with shame. 
“Professor,” you finally said. “I’m... sorry.”
The smart eyes studied you before he shook his golden curls. “You didn’t know. But if you think the other night was a mistake, I get it. It’s fine, we can forget about it.”
Hesitation and guilt kept you from telling him otherwise, your mouth just opened and closed. He pursed his lips, then called a taxi to take you back safely to the hotel. 
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      It had been weeks since the trip, you hadn’t spoken a word to Professor Reid except for a few short answers in class. He seemed back to his old self. You tried, but each time you saw his beautiful golden hair and those god forsaken eyes, and those soft red lips - you could not forget how they had felt on yours - the slick feeling of hunger and lust grew from the pit of your stomach and rose up to your throat.
      You were deep in thought when the door of the classroom swung open and pulled every student’s attention from whatever they had been busying their thoughts with. It was the head of your University, what on earth was she doing here? She searched the class and her eyes landed on you, “Ah, Miss (Y/L/N).”
Trying not to freak out, you hesitantly replied, “Yes, ma’am?”
“Could I borrow a moment of your time after class?”
Wide-eyed, you bobbed your head up and down. “Of course.”
She smiled, then looked at your professor. “Oh, and you as well Doctor Reid, my office.”
      He immediately looked at you, but seemed much less alert than you had. Still, butterflies wove their way through your intestines at your mutual gaze. He broke the eye contact and nodded at the Head Mistress, with that, she left.
      You wanted to communicate with him through telepathy. “Does she know?” Ridiculous, you thought, then cheekily added, “your ass looks good in those pants.” The professor continued with his lecture, you desperately tried to fuse down the blush that had crept up your cheeks and resumed taking notes.
      Not until class was over did you remember the request of the Head Mistress. You didn’t even know where her office was, so you silently followed Doctor Reid. The two of you entered after knocking. She was sitting behind her desk with an eager expression.
“Please, have a seat.”
The two of you lowered onto the leather stools like two naughty school children in a principal’s office. 
“We heard back from the university of your expedition. They said without Y/N, their research project would have been drastically insufficient.”
Professor Reid looked over to you and smiled. “Well I must say, she is one of my best students.”
Your cheeks flushed crimson again. The Head Mistress nodded in approval. “But that’s not why I called this meeting.”
Frozen in your seat, you awaited your fate. Could Spencer hear your heat racing from next to you? Why was he not this nervous?
“I called you in, because I have elected you as your year’s representative to compete against other students across the country in FBI preparation and criminal analogy.”
“Of course,” she continued, “I called Doctor Reid here too as I would like him to be your mentor for the preparation and duration of the program.”
This information was baffling you. “I don’t know what to say, ma’am. I’m, honoured.”
In truth, you were mortified. Hours alone, studying with Professor Reid? You could barely focus in class, but one-on-one? Impossible.
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You were dreading your mentor meetings. The schedule the head mistress had set up for you indicated twice a week, and that was twice too many. Most of them were in the universities library, and some in his classroom. Nervously, you strode through the isles of old books until you found him in the far corner. He looked perfect, like a beam of sunlight, so at home between the rows and piles of books.
“Y/N,” he smiled up at you. It was so easy for him to act normal.
“Hi sir,” you avoided his gaze and sat down.
      Your study session went slowly, and with immense difficulty to concentrate. It was like he was burning you from the other end of the table, unaffected by your presence. Sometimes he would get up and grab a book to show you something, leaning over your shoulder to point out a certain word or image. 
      When it was over, you were so relieved you almost left without saying goodbye. You had started to doubt whether this was going to work at all, until you spoke to your best friend. Her advise was that, if he didn’t let you focus, why should you allow him to focus? You mulled it around for a while, and decided that it was either that, or you’d have to ask for a new mentor. But you knew that would raise question, or worse, hurt his feelings - which you had already done once. 
      From a distance, you could see how utterly childish the idea was, but he had not satisfied your need of him that night back at the hotel. You still craved him, his lips on yours, his hands over your body and him inside of you. You knew some part of him had wanted this too.
So, the next meeting you showed up in the shortest skirt you could find in your closet, and an oversized sweater. What was underneath was a mystery. Professor Reid’s eyebrows climbed his forehead when you entered, he had been reading a book but almost dropped it when he saw your bare legs. A smirk crept up your face, your plan was working.
Sooner or later you knew he would break, or stop you. Of course, he was a profiler, he could see the signs of attraction, nervousness, lust, and whatever else you could possibly feel for him - oblivious to the fact that he had the visible emotional range of a teaspoon. (I hope y’all got that reference) 
“Would you mind fetching the following encyclopaedia for me?” He asked with a layer of honey coating his sexy voice.
You happily obliged and after searching for a while you realised it was on the top most shelf behind him. Perfect. You grabbed a chair and walked over to the section, climbed on top and reached your hand to the book, making sure your skirt hiked up. “This one, sir?” You asked, looking down at him. A low string of swearwords were mumbled from below you. Doctor Reid nodded and quickly looked away from your exposed bottom, occupying himself with tapping his pencil.
Smiling, you seated yourself again and started rolling the back of your pencil between your mouth as he explained something to you. His eyes briefly traveled down to your lips, then back to your eyes. He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie with those large, veiny hands of his - your thighs pressed together. He was making you squirm just by existing, literally anything he did turned you on. When he was deep in focus, he pulled his lip between his teeth or raked a hand through his loose curls.
You let him rest for the next twenty minutes, then decided to take things up a notch, test the waters, if you will. You two were sitting side by side, him facing a little toward you, each focused on diagramming statistics from multiple books, when you “accidentally” dropped your pencil between his spread legs. 
“Oops,” you giggled slightly, quickly getting down before he could.
Taking longer than needed to retrieve the fallen pencil and getting down on your hands and knees, you slowly looked up at him from your position. His lips parted slightly, but he didn’t look away. From between his legs you spoke, “I’m so clumsy today,” and batted your lashes with innocence.
“I see that,” he said, the corners of his mouth turning up. 
You got back into your seat, he resumed his work. Maybe your plan wasn’t working, he still seemed calm and collected. You sighed, and were ready to call it quits, when you felt a hand on your thigh. 
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When you looked over he wasn’t looking at you, his eyes were on the book on the table and his other hand was tugging on his collar. His touch was sending tingles straight to your core, and you almost moaned when he started rubbing circles on your inner thigh. Damn it, you thought, he was winning now. You didn’t want him to remove his hand, but you didn’t want him to have the upper hand either. So, you stood up - momentarily earning his gaze on you again - and sat on the edge of the table close to him, your legs dangling against his thigh that was facing you. 
He looked up at you with suspicion. “You aren’t supposed to sit on the tables, you know.”
Your higher ground provided some confidence, you leaned in a little to him and in a whisper voice said, “We aren’t supposed to fuck on them either, how about we break more than one rule today?”
His pupils dilated and he pulled his lip between his teeth again, then abruptly stood up. “My office. Now.” He pulled you behind him as he lead the way.
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By the time you had gotten to Spencer’s office, your nerves had worked themselves up into snakes in your stomach. He was pulling you by your wrist, and slammed the door behind you once you got inside. You were pushed once again by those strong hands against the door, he kissed you. The feeling of his soft mouth on yours sent fireworks off behind your closed eyelids. It was bliss. You wove your hands through his hair, but he suddenly stopped kissing you.
“What makes you think you can talk to me like that, and tease me in a library full of people,” he whispered in a husky voice next to your ear, sending tingles down your back.
You bit your lip, the dominant side had come out again - and this time, you were happy to hand over the role of the upper hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Good girl, but I’m gonna have to punish you for that.” The excitement was building up between your legs at such a fast rate you were afraid it would soak completely through your tiny underwear.
“First” you said, and lowered onto your knees in front of him, “let me try to make it up to you.”
He watched you with his mouth open, and moved his hands to your hair. Smirking, you undid his belt and took him out, he was already hard. You licked up the underside, then swirled your tongue over the tip. This earned a loud moan from the professor, and an even louder one when you took him in completely. He guided the rhythm with his hands in your hair as you bobbed your head along his length, taking in what you couldn’t fit with your hands. You felt him twitch, then he suddenly drew you away and pulled up his pants.
“Enough,” he breathed out heavily, “I still want to fuck you.” His words sent chills down your spine. His hair had fallen into his eyes, his shirt and tie hanging askew - this messy look was your favourite.
You wrapped your hands around his neck as he picked you up and carried you you over to his desk, where he reattached your lips. You weren’t getting enough of him, even though your hands were exploring all the places they’ve been missing, until he grabbed your thigh and pushed his hardness onto your core. Electricity sparked between you two. A moan left your swollen lips, and he took this as a sign to continue rubbing onto you.
“You like feeling me against you?” 
“Ahuh,” your reply came out as a half moan.
He put his mouth next to your ear again, “Wait till you feel what it’s like when I’m inside.”
His lips attacked your neck as he pulled off your sweater, only to discover you weren’t wearing a bra underneath. He clicked his tongue, “bad girl.” Shaking his head, he turned you around so you were bent over his desk. A hard hand landed on your behind. Instead of moaning, you inhaled sharply. “That’s it, not too loud.” He approved, and trailed his fingers up between your unclothed thighs.
You felt a little nervous like this, of course you had been fucked before, but never like this. But you wanted, and needed him so badly. “Sir,” you pleaded.
He chuckled, and rubbed you through your underwear, causing you to close your thighs around his hand. In disapproval, he separated your feet again and pulled off your underwear completely. You were left only in your skirt.
“We’ll leave this on,” he huffed, stroking the waistband softly.
The anticipation was too much. He snaked both of his hands around your waist and pulled you closer into a standing position. Now, his lips sloppily kissed into the crook of your neck as his hand moved down your stomach. A gasp left your mouth when his hand reached down there, slowly rubbing your sensitive part. Your body was squirming against his hand, and his free one came up to your throat. 
“Tell me what you want,” he breathed against your cheek.
“I-” you moaned again when his finger started rubbing faster, “-I want you inside of me!”
He smiled, “That’s what I like to hear.”
His fingers left your soaking area, causing you to moan at the loss of contact. You heard him fumbling with his pants again, then felt his bare harness stroke against you, which produced another moan. He bent you over his desk again, and without warning, slammed into you. Adjusting to his size was difficult, but when he gradually started pumping in and out it gave some relief. Your breathing was now coming out as loud sighs every time he dragged back into you, steadying himself by holding your right hip by hand and using the other to hold onto the desk.
“Faster,” you pleaded.
He swore and started pounding harder, in and out. Moans filled the air of his office. The fast rhythm was now building into a climax, you were getting closer with each thrust. You knew by the sounds coming from him that he was close too. “More,” you almost yelled. He obliged and thrusted until you were hitting the desk each time he pound into you. Pressure started to build up in your legs, you were so close. He grunted and continued slamming into you, every thrust feeling harder and deeper than the last. You moaned loudly as you reached your climax, the warmth causing him to reach his own. With a few more sloppy thrusts, he pulled out. You shakily sat down, out of breath and satisfied beyond what you had ever imagined possible. 
“That’s my girl,” he cooed and kissed you once again after pulling on his pants.
Professor Reid looked at you with the same intrigue that made you need all this in the first place, and for the rest of the mentoring, this continued.
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A/N: I will be writing more Spencer Reid x reader, please send me requests (I will also write for characters from other shows/movies/books).
247 notes · View notes
thetaleoflevi · 3 years ago
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Role Reversal
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Pairing: Levi x Fem!Reader
Content Type: SFW, Angst, Fluff
Content Warnings: Mentions of death, emotional breakdown, explicit language
Description: Levi and Reader’s roles are reversed. Reader is the Captain and humanity’s strongest soldier with the apathetic attitude, and Levi is the ordinary (not so ordinary) soldier with a less cynical view on life.
Word Count: 5.8k+
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It was another late night of you sitting in your dimly lit office, filling out countless reports of the bodies that weren’t recovered after the last expedition. A sigh of sorrow escaped your lips, followed by you rubbing the bridge of your nose. So many good people were gone in the blink of an eye and you had to be the one to fill out the pages that informed their loved ones that the Scout Regiment was unable to bring them back home. Death was a subject that haunted your dreams ever since you joined the Scouts. It’s much worse now that you’ve been given the trust and responsibility that comes with the title of ‘Humanity’s Strongest Soldier.’
You were brought out of your thoughts when you heard a voice coming from your bedroom. “Come to bed, Captain Y/N. You work too hard.” Through the open door, you can see Levi sitting on your bed, head against the headboard and legs crossed. He was smirking, knowing you hated being addressed by your title when it was just you and him.
You let it slide, knowing that if it weren’t for him you’d be a fully developed insomniac. He’s very persistent when it comes to taking care of you. “Come lay with me.” He called once again. “I can’t, Levi. I have to finish this up or else i’ll have to do it tomorrow. We have that meeting with Erwin and all the officers tomorrow, so this would only take up more of my time.” You picked up your pen again and began writing the name of another deceased soldier. “I miss you.” You can hear the longing in his voice. “I know.” You mumbled, not looking up. Your brows furrowed as you wrote ‘Deceased’, under the soldier’s name.
“Then if you’re not coming to me, i’m coming to you.” You hear the rustling of Levi throwing your blanket off of his lap. His footsteps are quiet, but with your dog-like hearing you’re able to know where he is. In a few seconds he’s standing behind you, his chin taking its place on your head.
“Whatcha workin’ on?” He questioned, feeling happier now that he’s next to you. “Missing body reports.” That was all you could say about it—all you wanted to say about it. “Almost my entire squad was demolished.” You whispered to yourself as you moved on to the third deceased member of your squad. It was a young girl. She hadn’t been a Scout for more than two years, yet she came to know and love everyone as if they were the family she was born into. She had just turned seventeen, making her the second youngest member to have been on your squad.
“I’m sorry, love. I know I can’t make this hurt you’re feeling go away.” He stood up straight and tucked strands of hair that fell in your face behind your ear. “Do you want to sit on my lap while you work?” He knew exactly what to do to make you feel better, and you never declined his offer. “Yes, please.” You pushed back and rose from the wooden chair. You moved a little to your right to allow him to sit down.
With the way you were so compliant when it came to him, no one who hadn’t met you before would guess that you were the Captain and humanity’s strongest soldier. You looked like a teddy bear sitting on his lap, meanwhile his features are fierce and he was able to shut people up without intending to. In reality, he’s very approachable and kind.
His chest was to your back, his arms around your torso, his chin on your shoulder. He gave you the strength to continue writing with less of a shake in your hand. “I want you to sleep tonight, Y/N. Not on the couch, not in here—but next to me on your bed.” You could feel the vibrations of his voice on your shoulder. You finished writing the sentence you had started and responded to his request. “I’m not gonna promise you that. You’re welcome to sleep on the bed if you want, though.”
Your heart dropped when you heard him sigh quietly. It felt like he was disappointed in you, when really he just wanted to hold you close for a few hours. It helped him forget the monstrous reality you both lived in.
You felt him adjust for the last time on your shoulder, tilting his head to the side. You didn’t pay attention to him as he did so, focusing on the last deceased member of your squad. The youngest, at the young age of fifteen, was gone. How cruel does the world have to be to end the life of someone who was born into mayhem? Who never saw or experienced peace?
You didn’t notice Levi had fallen asleep until you felt soft breathing on your neck. Wisps of hair had fallen messily on his face and his arms loosened around your torso. It was a beautiful, calming sight. He looked so innocent and at ease. You reached down to where his hands rested on your stomach and squeezed his palm softly. For the duration of the time you spent working, your hand ghosted around his. He stirred awake every once in a while which resulted in you whispering for him to go back to sleep. Each time he would re-tighten his arms around you, nudging you like a puppy until he was comfortable again.
It was three in the morning when you finally got through the pile of work. It wouldn’t have taken so long if you had saved the reminiscing for later when you felt the guilt begin to eat you alive.
As you tapped the stack of papers against the desk to get them together neatly, you felt the urge to apologize to Levi for putting him down earlier. He didn’t have to stay with you. He has his own room to sleep in, yet he decided to grace you with his company.
You realized you have a few hours left until you have to get ready for the day. Why not try to sleep?
Levi was sleeping soundly, soft snores coming from him. You smiled a little at the form of his pouty lips. “Levi, baby.” You whispered, reaching your left hand to push his bangs away from his eyes. His eyes fluttered open, silver-turned-blue irises glowing in the orange light of the candle. He gave you the softest smile you had ever seen and kissed your shoulder before straightening his posture.
“Let’s go to the room.” You murmured to him. “Are you done?” He asked in a raspy sleep-filled voice. “Yes. Let’s go to sleep.” You stood up from his lap. He groaned as he moved his legs, trying to get rid of the numbness. You extended your hand to him and helped him stand.
He held onto your hand as you crossed the doorway between your office and bedroom. You split ways as he went to one side of the bed and you other. While he laid down instantly, you sat with your head against the headboard and one knee up.
“That’s not how you’re supposed to sleep.” He mumbled with his eyes closed. “How would you know? You can’t even see me.” You raised an eyebrow. “I can’t feel you close enough to me, plus…” He patted around until he felt your leg bent at the knee. “…your leg shouldn’t be bent like this.” He grabbed your shin and slowly unbent your leg to match the other one.
“Take my form as an example of how you should be laying.” He opened his eyes, waiting for you to recline. You slowly lowered yourself, propping yourself on your elbows as your back neared the mattress. Levi brought your arm down so that you were flat against the bed, head meeting a pillow. You turned to Levi who was now closer. “I can’t promise you that i’ll be sleeping, but i’ll lay here with you.”
He rubbed his thumb slowly against your cheek. “That’s enough for me, beautiful. I’m just happy you’re here with me.” He slugged closer to you, his face nuzzling into your chest.
It was incredible how this man was able to make you feel things that no one else could. His heart slowed as he drifted to sleep, but yours was pounding. You hoped the sound or the feeling wouldn’t bother him. It was his fault, yet you felt guilty.
The bags under his eyes were visible in the light that peered through your windows. You brushed them as gently as possible, as if you could magically get rid of them. It’s been a rough life. Sleep is a luxury that you don’t think you deserve. If you could give your unused hours of sleep to him, you would.
You pressed a kiss to his forehead, running your fingers through his locks of hair. You skimmed the short hairs of his undercut with your knuckles, you could tell he recently cut his hair. He always looked so handsome, sometimes you wondered if you were pretty enough for him. Insecurity was something that often creeped its way into your brain, but you aren’t the type to fish for compliments or make your lack of confidence obvious. If you were to be that way, you wouldn’t make it as a Captain. Having Levi reminds you of how fortunate you are to be alive. He is, and will always be enough for you.
Those hours you had went by too quickly. In what felt like a few minutes, it was six in the morning and the sun was beginning to rise. You had to start getting ready for the meeting that started at seven thirty. Your eyes felt heavy, which wasn’t a foreign feeling, but apart from that you felt alright. You slowly released yourself from Levi’s hold so that you could get your clothes for after your shower.
“Come back.” Levi whined, extending his arms in your direction. “We have to get ready for our meeting. I’m gonna shower, i’ll be out soon.” He pouted defeatedly and got out of bed.
You relaxed as the lukewarm water washed down your body. Was it the time to have your mental breakdown? Sadly, no. Not while Levi was outside.
You heard the door open and heard Levi say something indistinctly. “What was that?” You asked. “I said sorry for barging in. I need to fix my hair.” He repeated. You hummed in response. Levi, who was usually a great conversation starter, was dead silent. He was contemplating whether or not he should ask you if you’re okay.
“Hey, Y/N?” He rummaged through your drawers in search of a comb. “Hmm?” “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” You lathered your body with soap and replied with another hum. “Right?” He prompted. “Yes, I do.” You answered. “Do you want to talk about anything?”
The water cascaded down your body, bringing soapy water to the floor. “Not anything in particular.” He frowned, knowing that if you didn’t talk to him when he was around, you’d eventually be left to fight your inner demons alone.
His hair was done but he kept messing it up and combing it again just so that he could keep talking to you. “Please promise me that if you’re ever not okay, we’ll talk about it.” Your face went neutral, unable to pinpoint what made him talk this way suddenly. “I’m not gonna fall apart on you, Levi. Who am I to do so?” You rubbed a few bubbles of soap off of your collarbone under the stream then reached for the shampoo bottle. “You’re my everything. I need to know what’s going on inside that brain of yours.”
You distributed the runny substance to your scalp and mane of hair. The scalp massage you gave yourself was very much needed given the constant weight you felt on you shoulders. A minute later, the foamy texture was rinsed out and you turned the water off. You peeped your head out of the shower, hand reaching for the towel hanging on the steel bar. Levi looked at you from the corner of his eye, enticed by the sight of you being drenched. You got a hold of your towel and shut the shower curtains, missing the light blush that appeared on his face.
You wrapped the towel around your body and stepped out of the shower, not looking in Levi’s direction as you separated your jacket from the dirty clothes. “Do you want me to get out?” The rosy tint was there again. “No, it’s alright. I’ll change in the room.” You took your clothes and shut the door behind you. You dressed into another white button-up and tucked it into your white trousers.
A knock came from the bathroom door. “Can I come in? It’s hot in here.” Levi asked, voice muffled. You internally laughed evilly. “Yeah, I’m done.” The door clicked open and he instantly searched the room for you. You were putting your belt on. “I’m ready to go. Do you need help with your straps?” Please say yes. Please say yes. “Yes, please and thank you. I need to do my hair.” You went to the bathroom and grabbed your hairbrush before returning to your bed.
Levi was waiting on your bed with the leather bands that went around your chest and limbs. “Let’s start with your thighs.” He picked up the brown material. You sat on the bed, lifting a leg to allow him to slip the bands under. He wrapped the pieces of leather around your thighs gently, tightening them the appropriate amount needed and buckling them. This procedure was followed by a kiss applied to each area that was strapped, and a look up at you afterwards. You give him a small smile while you continue to brush your hair.
He finished with the straps that went on your legs, waiting for you to finish brushing your hair to do the ones for your arms and chest.
You put your hair into a ponytail and he immediately began slipping your arms through the leather loops. He buckled the strap that went slightly above your chest, intense eye contact from him while doing so. “What?” You asked curiously. “Oh, nothing.” He placed the awaited kiss and moved down to your abdomen to attach the last two straps to your belt. He placed the last kisses on your stomach, straightening from his slightly hunched position after.
“Thank you, Levi.” If you were more like him, you would make it more clear that you loved him. You would say that you loved him more often. They were his three favorite words coming from you because he knew that you found difficulty saying them, yet you managed to get them out for him. You’ve only said it to him three times before, the rest of the time you show him.
“It’s no bother at all. I wanted to give you some extra love as well because…I know something is off. I’m not gonna push you about it, but please talk to me about it when you can.” You nodded as you put your camel colored jacket on. “Are you ready to go?” You asked, mediocrely fixing your bed. You were going to come back to wash your entire set anyway. “Yeah, let’s go.”
It was seven twenty-five when you both got to the meeting room. Familiar faces surrounded you. You sat next to Erwin who sat at the head of the table. You’re his right hand woman, and he trusts you with his life to say the least. Levi sat to your left as your right hand man. He acted as your emotional support, mostly to keep you calm and collected when you thought something wasn’t right and were being misunderstood when you voiced your concerns.
Once the clock struck seven thirty, Erwin began the meeting. “Good morning, everyone. We’re gathered here to brainstorm a plan for our next expedition outside of the walls. Today we’ll be discussing squad reformations and routes that can help lower the amount of casualties and injuries in our battalion. Our next meeting will consist of looking over what we come up with today and confirming the actions we will be taking.” Your hands immediately clenched into fists when your heard ‘next expedition.’ We just went through with one two days ago. The number of casualties and injured soldiers is too high to go outside the walls again so soon.
Levi’s hand found your forearm and squeezed gently. With the amount of times your concerns have been shot down, you were just about done trying to object anything your Commander said in regards to exiting the walls. He was so strong headed and able to defend his methods that you often gave up trying to convince him that there were flaws in his thought processes. You relaxed your hands and sat through the rest of the meeting with your usual stoic expression. Your surface did not reflect the way you felt inside at all.
“Captain Y/N, what do you think of the plan we’ve arranged so far?” The blonde haired man asked, facing you. Should I go for it? Should I tell him what I think just to get shut down again? “It’s a good plan, I just have one concern.” He folded his hands and nodded in an understanding manner. Levi turned to pay attention to the conversation between you and Erwin. The officers were discussing ideas amongst themselves.
“I think it’s too soon to go outside the walls again. I was filling out the reports for the soldiers that died during the last expedition, and we lost a grand number of soldiers.” “Yes, you’re right about that. Our next expedition won’t be for a while though. I noticed the amount of soldiers that came back injured is just as large as those that died, so i’m giving them time to recuperate. The squad reformations we’ve made are just incase our wounded soldiers are not capable of joining us in our next expedition. If they aren’t physically well by the time our next expedition takes place, the squad reformations will be confirmed.”
He agrees? He agrees. “Oh, alright. Then we’re off to a great start with this plan.” He nodded and smiled with satisfaction.
The meeting ended in a little over an hour. Erwin dismissed everyone and made sure to praise you for your input before exiting the room to continue brainstorming alone.
“I’m proud of you, Captain!” Levi beamed a smile and pulled you into an embrace that you refused to reciprocate. The public display of affection had heat creeping to your cheeks even if there was no one in the room but you two. People were walking past the door constantly, and the thought of being seen like this was embarrassing to an extent. “Thank you, Levi. Let’s get out of here.”
Lunchtime finally arrived and usually you sat with Hange, Levi, and Erwin, but Hange and Erwin were both busy with their own things so it was just you and Levi. You weren’t hungry, the thought of your fallen comrades slowly beginning to bombard your thoughts again. It brought an unsettling feeling to your stomach.
“You should eat something.” Levi said, taking a sip of his tea. “I’m not hungry. I think i’m gonna go to my office to finish some more work.” “Okay, i’ll go with you.” He said feeling overjoyed to spend more time alone with you. “You don’t have to. I’m just gonna be filling out more papers.” You rubbed the back of your neck. Levi’s clinginess was another reason you loved him. You like the idea of him wanting to be around you all the time, but it’s not a problem if he spends a day without you as well. You withstand the time apart better than he does.
“I want to, though. I like spending time with you even if i’m just watching you do work.” You looked at his teacup that was still three fourths of the way full. “At least finish your tea. You can meet me in my office once you’re done.” You rose from the bench looking at him as he set the porcelain cup down. “Fine, i’ll see you in a bit, Captain.” He stood up and gave you one of his perfect salutes. You nodded and left the table.
Throughout your years as a Scout, you’ve seen death left and right. You made it your mission to remain as closed off to others as you could to protect yourself from anymore heartache, but Levi managed to break into your heart by force. He just wouldn’t leave you alone, so you let your guard down for him, seeing the way he cared for you like you were his favorite person in the world. He dealt with your mood swings, he stayed after you pushed him away, and he understood your significance to the Scout Regiment and all the weight you bear solely. He understood that you being deemed humanity’s strongest soldier isn’t just a fancy title, it’s a heavy anchor that weighs on your shoulders.
You opened the door to your office, shutting it behind you before you went further into the room.
You went to your desk and sat down in the wooden chair. A sound came from underneath your boots, making you look down to inspect the area. You crouched down to pick up a paper that had fallen out of the stack of reports you had filled out. ‘Name:_____| Age: 15 yrs| Gender: Male…’ read the beginning of the description. The young boy, once so full of joy and life, was narrowed down to a sheet of paper with a pitiful explanation for why he will never be seen again. You sat on the floor underneath your desk reading the rest of the description. ‘Hair color: Black| Eye color: Hazel| Height: 5’6| Weight: 152 lbs…’
You felt the urge to cry, but tears wouldn’t form. The floor was not at all comfortable, but it brought comfort knowing that your lack of emotional stability wouldn’t be witnessed at first glance. You weren’t visible to anyone under your desk, so if you really wanted to break down, now would be your chance.
A knock came from the other side of your door. That was too quick, Levi. You didn’t answer, still deep in thought and overcome by treacherous feelings.
The door opened without your permission and you didn’t even care. “Y/N, are you in here?” Levi’s footsteps got further as he walked past your desk and into your bedroom. “Are you in here?” He opened the bathroom door, not seeing you in there. “Hmm.” He returned to the doorway between the two rooms. He noticed your boot as it leaned against the left leg of your chair. “There you are.” He traced your boot back to you.
“What are you doing down here? Are you okay?” He crouched down to meet with you at eye level. “Yeah, i’m fine. I just…forgot this…um…report.” You were visibly shaken and Levi wasn’t sure what the cause was. He took the paper from your loose grip and read the page quickly from top to bottom. “Talk.” He sat on the floor, something he wasn’t particularly fond of doing, but anything for you.
“I’m not doing this right now. There’s a time and a place for mourning the dead. Now is not that time, and this is definitely not the place.” You crawled out of the area and slowly got to your feet. Levi followed you as you strode to your bedroom. “When is it the time, then? Where is that place? I’ll take you there whenever.” His voice wasn’t as soft as it was when he first found you. You said you weren’t going to push it, Levi. You’re doing the exact opposite.”
He ran a hand through his hair, frustration filling him to the brim. “I just want you to talk to me! Confide in me! God, Y/N. It shouldn’t be this hard. I’m not just some stranger you’ve held close at night. I’m your lover.” You were on the brink of letting every emotion within you loose, bringing yourself back when you see how distressed Levi looks. You know it’s your fault he’s this way right now, but you made him a silent promise.
You sit down on the edge of your bed, holding your hands together tightly. “I’m not going to break in front of you.” You whispered. Levi kneeled down in front of you and held onto one of your shins. “I’m not leaving until you do.” His stormy gray eyes never left yours. “I don’t care if it takes hours. I’m not leaving until you spill your fucking heart out.”
Wherever you went, he just followed you. Working on paperwork? He watched you from the other side of your desk. How he didn’t get tired of watching you was beyond you. “I’m just trying to help.” You didn’t look up at him, continuing your writing. “I know you are.” You murmured. He reached for your vacant hand, rubbing your knuckles with his thumb. “Then why aren’t you letting me?” Tears stung the inner corners of your eyes, threatening to break your facade. You blinked back the blurriness of your vision, prohibiting yourself from showing your true emotions.
“Maybe others can’t see through your stoic mask, but I’m close enough to notice the cracks in it.” And there it was…the first tear. You gripped your pen tighter, ink bleeding through the paper, but you continued writing messily. Your eyebrows furrowed and your lips trembled, eyelashes being weighed down with teardrops. “I know it’s hard to bare yourself to me like this.” His eyes softened at the large tears that rolled down your cheeks, ending at your chin, before falling on the paper.
Your chest suddenly felt tight causing a hiccup to fall from your lips. You covered your eyes with both of your hands, tears still streaming underneath them. You felt humiliated at your show of weakness. “How are you gonna try to hide all those tears from me, sweetheart?” He pulled one of your hands down, revealing a closed eye, and a knitted eyebrow. You instantly crossed your arms on your desk and put your head down, tears pooling and leaving dark spots on your sleeves.
Levi hurried over to your side and kneeled beside you. “I know, baby. You need to get this out.” He rubbed your back slowly. The erratic shaking that started in your shoulders lured a sad reaction out of Levi. It was as if he felt every ounce of pain you were feeling. He wanted to cry with you, but stayed strong knowing there was no room for two meltdowns.
“He…was…fif…teen.” You spoke muffled with pauses between gasps. Levi kissed your shoulder. “I know. It’s awful. He was a pure soul and solid addition to the squad, but think about it, he’s not suffering in this disgusting world anymore and he’s no longer living in fear.” Your eyes felt even heavier now. You went silent as you tried to calm down. Your breathing was anything but steady.
When you managed to stabilize yourself, you took one last deep breath before picking your head up.
“Y-Yeah.” You cleared your throat and wiped at your puffy under eyes. “You’re right.” You said more steadily, finally able to face your inamorato.
He undid his ascot and gave it to you to dry your eyes with. “Thank you.” You said quietly, dabbing the cloth on your damp features. He nodded with a soft smile. “How do you feel?” His knuckles brushed your cheeks sweetly. The coldness of his skin felt nice in contrast to your warm, tear-stained face. “Fine.” It was the only word you thought could narrow down how you currently felt after your meltdown. You knew the storm was only passing temporarily, but you weren’t going to make a bigger spectacle than you already had.
“Come on, give me something more.” He turned his head and pointed to his cheek. “I feel better, love. Thank you.” You leaned in to kiss his cheek, not expecting Levi to straighten his head at the last second. Lips met lips pleasantly, heat taking it’s place on your cheeks again. On the inside, he was laughing like a child at his spontaneous act, knowing he managed to fluster you. On the outside, he was enjoying the contact you allowed him to have with you.
Every time he kisses, hugs, or even just brushes his hand against yours, it brings back memories of the first time you let him rock you to sleep like you were a child. He knew before he even formally met you that you never slept because you walked around with the darkest bags under your pretty eyes. When you picked Levi to be on your squad, he made it his own personal mission to get you the sleep you deserved.
You pulled away from him, blush continuing to make you look like you were the subordinate in the relationship. “I’m glad you feel better. I’ll always be here to console you, Y/N. I hope you know that. I’m sorry I had to force your feelings out of you this time.” He smoothly brought one of your hands to his lips and kissed the back. “It’s fine. You shouldn’t have to force me to talk about things. I’ll work on it.” He chuckled at the way you effortlessly made him happy. He was the only one to see your smile often, even if it was a small and short-lasting one.
“What do you want to do now? I’m pretty sure I recall you telling me that you finished all the work you had to do, earlier in the morning.” You stood up from the chair, pulling him up from his kneeled position as well. “Come on.” You took his hand and led him to your bedroom.
“Remember the first night we slept in the same bed? The first night you got me to sleep after you found out I hadn’t slept in a few days?” His eyes twinkled hoping you were thinking what he was thinking. “Mhm. What about it?” You let go of his hand and proceeded to your bed where you sat on the edge and took off your boots. “Can we do that again?” You threw your right boot in a corner next to the left boot.
He felt like his heart was beating out of his chest. This was his favorite thing to do with you, having decided it after only doing it once. It beat every single thing you two did together. He got to watch you close your eyes and get the rest you desperately needed, yet ran from. He got to hold you close and listen to the rhythm of your breathing, and he got to kiss you as much as he wanted.
“Of course, my love. Anything for you.” He went to the opposite side of the bed and took his boots off, tossing them across the room to where your boots were. He got closer to the center of the bed with his back against the headboard and got into a comfortable position before patting his lap for you to lay across. You crawled to where he was, laying your head just above the crease of his arm and the rest of your body lay across his lap. You felt safe and secure in his arms.
“Who knew the Captain was such a softie for an ordinary soldier like me?” Levi cooed, brushing a strand of hair away from your eyes with his free hand. “Shut up.” You mumbled with your eyes closed. He chuckled lowly, the vibrations already working on lulling you to sleep. “Are you sure you want to sleep right now? It’s three in the afternoon. You might not be able to sleep at night.” “Mhm.” You hummed. “I don’t sleep at night anyway.” You reassured. “Alright, my dear.” He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close, and began swaying your body slowly. You concentrated on the motion and your heart rate started slowing down.
There was an immense adoration gleaming in Levi’s eyes as he watched you slowly drift to sleep. He kissed your forehead and stopped swaying when he felt your body go limp, chest rising and falling with every breath that escaped your lips.
A few moments later, there was a sudden knock on your door. Levi’s eyes widened, hoping whoever was at the door would leave immediately. Another three knocks came from the other side when there was no response, causing you to stir at the sound. Levi looked down at you, eyes completely soft. He hoped you would stay asleep through the unwelcome raps. Then the doorknob turned.
“Captain Y/N, are you in-” “Shut the fuck up.” Levi muttered through gritted teeth. He was never this aggressive with his words, but when it came to you, he could surprise anybody—even Hange and Erwin.
Eren’s eyes were wide at the sight. ‘Captain Y/N likes affection?’ Was all he thought. “Sorry, Levi.” He whispered. “Can you make sure Captain Y/N sees this when she wakes up?” The boy rubbed his neck as he waited for Levi to look up again. “Just leave it on her office table. Don’t touch anything. No, never mind. Just leave it on her dresser over there.” Levi watched Eren like a hawk as he located your dresser and set the paper down. “I’m heading out. See you later, Levi.” The boy exited the room, unsure of whether he should keep this to himself or tell his group of friends.
“Who was that?” You asked, feigning grogginess a few seconds later. Your survival instincts had you awake by the first knock, but you wanted Levi to feel good about the way he was taking care of you. “It was Eren. Go back to sleep, love. Your schedule is clear for today. You can sleep for the rest of today if you want to.” You nodded and nudged yourself into his chest. “Only a little longer. Wake me up in ten minutes, please.” He stroked your cheek lightly. “Okay, dear.” His expression returned to the loving one he had prior to Eren’s interruption.
You returned to your dormant state rather quickly and Levi didn’t plan on waking you up any time soon.
As time went by, Levi found himself having to hold in his chuckles as he saw drool sliding down the corners of your mouth. He was quick to wipe it away with his thumb, knowing how you’d react if you woke up with drool on your face.
He realized before, but now it was emphasized that nothing could ever stop him from loving you. Not your past, not the present, not the future. Nothing. He knew from the moment you told him you loved him back that he would love and care for you endlessly.
I will hold you like this for as long as you want me to, and as many times as you need me to, my love.
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novelconcepts · 4 years ago
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omg can you do a print of damie in canon just interacting with flora bc i would love that
She’s lost Flora. 
There is, Dani thinks with the forced calm of one already beginning to spiral, little cause to panic. The house is big, but it’s not that big--and Flora is a good kid. She’s not exactly prone to just wandering off. She certainly wouldn’t, say, vanish from sight and reappear somewhere unexpected, suddenly acting like she didn’t entirely remember the time in between.
That doesn’t sound like Flora at all.
She isn’t running, per se, from room to room. Running would suggest there is a problem to be handled, and if she starts thinking along those lines--if she starts obsessing about Flora’s distinctly off-putting way of gazing over her shoulder, of saying things just a little too odd to be hand-waved away, of looking at Dani as though she can see straight through her to the unease thrumming under the surface--well. That way lies nothing useful. Nothing at all.
“Have you seen Flora?” The kitchen had seemed a good bet. Here, after all, is Owen, puttering away over the ingredients for the evening’s meal, his mood somber as he uses the manor to avoid reflecting on his mother’s upcoming funeral. Here is Hannah, dutifully rearranging the china, pretending not to steal glances at Owen’s lanky frame every few seconds. That spot at the table is made for Flora, little legs hanging off the chair, brimming with questions--
But Flora isn’t there, and Owen is shaking his head. 
“Not since lunch. Lost her, have you?”
No, she almost snaps. A count of three, a long-held breath; she smiles tightly, reminding herself that this is not Owen’s fault, nor Owen’s job. The children will be your responsibility alone, after all. 
“She’s quick,” she says instead. Hannah purses her lips.
“Perhaps upstairs with Miles?”
She isn’t. Miles, bent over a book with a solemn expression, blinks up at her as though she’s dragged him by the shirt collar out of the actual wardrobe to Narnia. 
“She asked me to color--what time is it?”
“Two,” Dani says, sparing the briefest glance for her watch. He shrugs. 
“An hour ago, I think? I told her to ask Hannah.” A flash of concern crosses his face, a too-adult creasing of brow. “Was that wrong? I just wanted to finish my book--”
“It’s fine,” Dani assures him, ruffling his hair. Too-adult, his expression may be, but this is the most kid she’s seen Miles in days. The last thing she wants is to dissuade him from reading, or from the loose sprawl of his posture. 
An hour, though. In the days since coming to Bly, Dani can’t remember twenty minutes passing without Flora turning up underfoot. 
Outside, she thinks with another swell of barely-restrained panic. She’s outside. By the lake, probably, where Flora can so often be found keeping company with dolls and talismans and snatches of ethereal song. 
It isn’t exactly a reassuring thought, particularly with summer rain sluicing down the windows, scattering over the roof like pellets. A storm, it isn’t, but an eight-year-old girl has no business wandering in weather like this. 
You'd have loved it, at her age, Dani reminds herself. There’s nothing at all wrong with a little girl puddle-jumping for the sheer joy of it. Flora probably got bored, cooped up with a bunch of busy adults and her brother uninterested in playing games. She’s fine. She’s almost certainly fine.
An umbrella is waiting beside the door, still damp from Owen’s trip in before breakfast. Dani takes a breath, pops it open, steels herself for the brisk wind. 
The grounds are gray, the puddles turning the grass to a squelchy mess beneath her shoes. She keeps her head up, her eyes carefully turned away from the puddles which sit like recklessly-dropped mirrors at every turn; if she so much as glances down and spots a flash of glasses, she’s not sure she’ll be able to keep her composure. 
Flora is not by the lake, as it turns out. Nor the statue gardens. Nor the rose bushes. Flora is nowhere, she’s starting to think, and her mind is finally turning toward the worst--toward the depth of that lake, how easily a small girl might slip off the embankment and tumble headlong into its hungry waves without notice--when she remembers the greenhouse.
Jamie will help. The thought rises without warning, a solid patch of sunlight at the center of the storm. Jamie will help--because Jamie knows every corner of these grounds as well as her own hands. Jamie, who maybe doesn’t know Dani all that well, but didn’t seem to mind offering gentle reassurance, exchanging unexpectedly deep conversation on the couch...or Dani taking her hand in the dark. Jamie, who had said, Who the hell knew? Jamie, who had worn an expression a little like awe.
They haven’t had time to talk about it since, but even so. Even so, for Flora, Jamie is sure to--
She hesitates at the door, fist raised to knock. It feels foolish, rapping on the entry to a greenhouse like it’s Jamie’s own bedroom--but this is, she reasons, as close to Jamie’s home as she’s ever likely to get. 
“Jamie, are you...”
“Here,” her voice comes from somewhere just out of sight. Dani takes a cautious step in out of the rain, jostling the umbrella and pulling it hastily shut. Best not to invite bad luck--she’s certainly already had her share. 
“I’m looking for Flora,” she calls, feeling a bit silly. There’s so much going on in this room--plants and tables, pots and a variety of outdoor furniture draped with old blankets. Normally, Jamie is easy to spot amid the riot of greens and pinks, her hands busy coaxing seedlings to life. Today, Dani feels as though she’s tripped and fallen into a game of hide and seek. 
“Don’t have to look far,” Jamie’s voice comes again--from behind the sofa, Dani thinks. “C’mere.”
“Miss Clayton!” Flora pipes up, and Dani feels the tension leave her body in a violent rush. Her hand grips the nearest table for support, her eyes closing in relief. “Come color with us”
“Come--sorry?” She can’t have heard right. Jamie? Jamie the gardener, putting aside work and temper to waste an afternoon on crayons?
Yes--yes, that appears to be exactly what Jamie is doing. Sprawled on her stomach, still dressed in her coveralls, she’s got a blue crayon in hand and a green one tucked behind her ear. She glances up as Dani steps nearer, a smile lighting her face. 
“Kid came stumbling in out of the rain an hour ago. Expect she didn’t think to warn you in advance?”
“Sorry.” Flora offers a sheepish smile, sitting up quickly. “Are you very cross?”
“No, of course not.” Just going to need a minute to purge the image of finding you facedown in the goddamned lake, is all. “Next time, though, you’ll have to tell me you’re leaving the house alone. I need to know where you are at all times, Flora.”
She expects Jamie to scoff at this--to say, Ah, she was with me, she’s fine. Instead, Jamie stretches over to land a sharp flick on Flora’s upper arm. 
“Rude to make Poppins worry. Look, she’s gone all pink.” She looks up at Dani, grinning. “Not a bad look, if we’re in the market for honesty.”
Dani suspects pink is the lightest shade she can manage, with Jamie gazing at her that way. It’s too easy, all of a sudden, to remember an unexpectedly soft hand under her own fingers, Jamie turning reflexively at the wrist to hold her back. 
“I’m terribly sorry,” Flora says, a phrase Dani is starting to think is more Flora than even perfectly splendid. “Here--I was just about to do one of you!”
Jamie gestures with the blue crayon, a silent suggestion for Dani to sit beside her. “Might as well. Rain doesn’t look like it’s letting up anytime soon.” She lowers her voice, eyes fixed on Flora’s determined rummage through the crayon box. “Sorry about that, Poppins. Know she’s been unpredictable lately, didn’t like the idea of her stumping around in the cold. If I’d known you were worried--”
“It’s all right.” In truth, she’s glad Flora made her way out here. Growing more pleased by the moment with this development, really, as Jamie slides a blank sheet of paper in front of her and presses a purple crayon into her hand. 
“Join us. We’re doing portraiture.”
“I can see that,” Dani laughs. Jamie’s handiwork speaks of a distinct lack of care for detail--each sketch on her page is, at best, a stick figure with a single defining feature. “How does Owen hold up his head, carrying a mustache the size of his torso?”
“With minimal decorum,” Jamie says, grinning. “And she’s right, it’s your turn.”
Dani suspects she’s going less pink, more a volatile shade of maroon, with both parties squinting at her face, their papers, her face again. Flora is doing her very best work, taking several minutes just to select the closest shades of blue, yellow, pink. Jamie makes an enormous production of holding up a crayon, closing one eye, gauging proportions--and then, cheerfully, scrawling a figure identical to the other four already on the page. 
“I’m taller than Hannah?” Dani asks, unable to resist a giggle. Jamie frowns.
“Ah, you’re...standin’ on a crate.” She adds a box beneath Dani’s non-existent feet with a flourish, nodding. “There. It’s symbolic.”
“Of what?”
“I’ve ranked you all on how much I like you. Takin’ into account, of course, certain accusations pointed my way regarding mud and shiny floorboards.” Jamie winks. Dani finds herself gripping her crayon almost hard enough to hurt. 
“You’re not drawing, Miss Clayton!” Flora observes. Dani glances away from Jamie’s smile--a difficult act only a few days ago, nearly impossible now--and clears her throat. 
“Well. Maybe just until the rain stops.”
There are, she thinks as a comfortable quiet settles over the greenhouse, infinitely worse ways to spend her afternoon. 
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in-class-daydreams · 3 years ago
Text
The Splash Zone - Tsukishima x Reader (Oneshot)
Jurassic World! AUPairing: Son of Park CEO!Tsukishima Kei x Mosasaur Trainer!Reader
- Word Count: ~9,000
- Genres: Fluff, angst
- CW: Mentions of death, objectification of main character, sexual harassment-
Mango’s Introduction: Tsukishima the younger is a bit… prickly. Don’t say that to his face, obviously, because he’s technically your boss, but for all his personality flaws, he’s definitely excellent at his job and he cares more about the people around him than he lets on. He’s snarky with that mosasaur trainer more than anyone else, but you can tell he’s sweet on her. I guess you could call it the adult equivalent of pulling a girl’s pigtails on the playground. Uh, don’t tell him I said that, he’s my boss too.
(A/N: For all of you who were interested in this series, y'all waited nearly a year for less than 10,000 words, and I apologize, haha. It's been sitting 95% finished all that time, but I moved onto some other projects because I wasn't confident in my writing abilities. After a year's worth of writing exercises via different projects, I'm now okay with putting this out for all of you. I hope my next few projects (AoT and KnY) knock your socks off, but for now, here's a little journey about following your own convictions, featuring our favorite salty blonde.)
Tsukishima had it all. Money, looks, brains, and sure, his personality could use a little work, but he wasn’t completely insufferable. Most of the time. But if you asked him, his sour attitude was hardly his fault. After all, he was the heir to a multi-trillion dollar theme park, so it’s not like there were any consequences for him talking to people the way he does. For all he cared, he could be as snarky as he liked, considering he didn’t work with many people that were willing to speak their mind to him.
“Bite me, Tsukki.”
Well, except for a certain mosasaur trainer that was really grating on his nerves. Said trainer sat across from him from her seat in his office, arms crossed and jaw tense. Tsukishima tapped his fingers on his desk.
“Are you done throwing a tantrum like a six-year-old?” he asked. (Y/N)’s hands balled in her lap. She kept her mouth shut, glowering at the desk in front of her to keep her temper under wraps.
The blonde rolled his eyes. About fifteen minutes ago, he watched her kick in the door to the employee lounge and make her way over to the mosasaur staff supervisor. All eyes were on her as she moved towards him with murderous intent rolling off of her in waves. While (Y/N) was the one with the most control over the aquatic dinosaur itself, the supervisor was the one who hired staff, had them trained, made their schedules, and completed the other overall administrative duties. Their position was a catch-all and they were meant to do the primary inspections that made the mosasaur shows run properly.
Company policy encouraged open communication between colleagues, of course. Jurassic World Theme Park prided itself on proficient employee cooperation, as per the employee handbook and what the marketing team insists they say. Tsukishima just wished (Y/N) had opened her statement with something a smidge more polite than, “Are there any grooves in your fucking brain or is it all just smooth in there?”
After that hell of a conversation starter, she and the supervisor verbally ripped into each other. If Kei hadn’t grabbed (Y/N) by the windbreaker and dragged her into his office, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they ended up ripping into each other physically, too. To her credit, (Y/N) most definitely won, but that would have been a bigger pain in his ass.
“(Y/N), you can’t speak like that to people you work with. I heard what you said about him keeping an eye on his interns, and that’s his business, not yours,” he sighed. It was too early for this crap, especially since his assistant called in sick and hadn’t made him his morning coffee, and there were a million things to do in preparation for the board meeting today. He had better things to do than settle this stupid argument.
(Y/N) looked at him with disbelief, “You think I went in there to yell at him for fun? You have no idea what happened, Kei, how are you already taking his side?”
Tsukishima looked into her fiery gaze for a moment. He leaned back, brushing down the front of his navy blue button-down.
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
“But it’s what you said,” she shot back.
He pursed his lips. “Alright, I’m sorry,” he muttered.
(Y/N)’s mouth dropped for a moment, then the corner quirked up ever-so-slightly, “What was that, Tsukki?”
“Just explain before I lose my patience,” he snapped. His ears felt hot.
She laughed, “Because you’re the picture of patience right now.”
“(Y/N).”
Although the anger in her posture returned, she was able to remain more composed than she had earlier.
“One of the interns came up to me about an hour ago to ask me about the coding for the hydraulic lift.” (Y/N) threw her hands up and leaned back in her chair, as if that was the answer to everything.
“I’ll need some more details than that.”
She groaned in frustration, “There’s the mosasaur tank and the stadium
surrounding it, yeah? And partway through the show, the hydraulic lift lowers the stadium to the underground viewing area, right? Well, for all that to happen, the codes on the control panel have to be specific,” her hands moved fervently as she got deeper into her explanation. “The codes never change, but every morning, the supervisor makes sure they’re correct and I double check before the show. If the codes are incorrect, the stadium might lift too fast, too slow, too much, or not at all.”
Kei nodded for her to continue, to which she gave a grateful nod before going back into rant mode.
“Interns don’t have clearance into that area. He gave her his fucking badge so she could go in and do the checks without him. She shouldn’t have been down there and she definitely shouldn’t have been checking the control panel. Look,” she ran a hand through her hair, “I don’t want to tell the guy how to do his job. If he wants to train the interns how to run the control panel, then fine, it’s not in my job description to police that. But that brand-new, inexperienced, fresh-out-of-college kid was all by herself down there doing that idiot’s job. She could have gotten hurt. She could have gotten other people hurt. It was her supervisor’s job to train her better and to take better care of his interns and if I don’t raise hell about this kind of stuff now, then who will? So fuck that guy, he deserved to get yelled at.”
(Y/N) heaved herself out of her chair, “And now that everyone thinks I’m a raving lunatic, I’m going back to my office to change. Try not to need me.”
~~
As the son of the owner of Jurassic World Theme Park, Tsukishima Kei was raised to do two things: work with dinosaurs and obey his father. When he was younger, he thought he would get to work with the dinosaurs as a trainer, regulate their feeding schedules, train them, and educate the masses about the wonders of science. But he was wrong. The future his father had in store for him involved dinosaurs, yes, but more along the lines of determining the cost of developing a new dinosaur or what characteristics are interesting to the general public so that the park can turn a profit.
Several years ago, when his father originally had her brought to the island, Kei had been skeptical. Out of all the candidates for the mosasaur trainer, (Y/N) had been particularly young, but for some reason, his father was insistent that the new mosasaur trainer be her. (Y/N) later proved and continued to prove that she wasn’t just qualified, but born to work with the mosasaur, Dolly, she called her. She cared for her with a deep passion that transcended interspecies boundaries.
(Y/N) was amazing at her job, and it was unfair of Tsukishima not to hear her out initially. There was a fine line between teasing as a result of mutual pining and just being a dick, and it seemed like Kei had crossed that line.
(Y/N) knew he was coming. That was one of the things she really appreciated about Tsukishima. He was a snarky asshole who liked to rile her up, and in the beginning, he was garbage at apologies, but over time, they’d apologized to each other so often that he no longer dragged ass over it. Once he realized he was in the wrong, he would find her immediately.
Tsukishima let himself into (Y/N)’s office, where he found her and the raptor trainer in deep conversation.
“Kei! Seriously, I could’ve been changing!” she yelled. She’d told him a million times to knock before coming in, but he rarely listened.
“Don’t worry, even if you were, there’s nothing to see,” he said teasingly.
(Y/N) scowled, “You wouldn’t know.”
Tsukishima scoffed.
“Anyway, Hajime, what else did that guy say?” (Y/N) said.
Kei frowned at the two cups from Tiki Smoothie in front of them. He wondered if Iwaizumi had brought her one as a surprise or if she’d asked him to bring her one. Both possibilities put him in a bad mood. Supposedly, they were just close friends, but (Y/N) forced him to watch enough Hallmark movies for him to know the friends-to-lovers trope quite well. It ranked just below childhood friends-to-lovers and just above enemies-to-lovers. He must have been staring at those cups for some time, because by the time he zoned back in, Iwaizumi had already finished his explanation.
“--train the raptors for the battlefield,” Iwaizumi finished.
(Y/N) raised an irritated brow, “Like dogs?”
The raptor trainer shrugged, “Apparently.”
“Did you tell him that’s not how raptors work?” she asked.
“I didn’t bother. He-- Sorry,” Iwaizumi fished his ringing flip phone from his vest pocket. “I gotta go, (Y/N), I’ll tell you more at dinner later,” he said on his way out the door.
“Okay, but I wanna hear about your thing with that pretty P.O. Manager later!”
The taller man stopped and gripped the door frame in surprise.
“Wha-- There’s no ‘thing’!” Iwaizumi sputtered.
“Whatever keeps your blood pressure normal."
As (Y/N) waved her friend off, Tsukishima rested his weight on the back of the vacated chair.
“What was that all about?”
(Y/N) sighed, making her way over to the wardrobe next to the door.
“Some military guy had a talk with Hajime about using the raptors for war. He said they’re better than drones because they’re not hackable and blah blah blah.”
“Does he realize that-- what are you doing?!” Tsukishima choked when (Y/N) dropped her loose gym shorts. Underneath, she wore plain navy blue bikini bottoms.
“Relax, Kei, you’re the one who invited yourself into my office. Besides, it’s not like you haven’t seen a girl’s bare legs, right?” she teased as she stepped into her dive skin. The tall young man moved to sit behind the desk. Forcing down his blush, he took on a snarky tone once again.
“Obviously. I didn’t think you had time for that kind of thing, since you’ve been cooped up with Darby for the last few years.”
(Y/N) shook her wetsuit at him, “Her name is Dolly! It’s always been Dolly and you know it, you little shit!”
“Language, (Y/N),” he smirked. What would my father say if he knew you spoke to me like that?”
“Oh, trust me, Malfoy, your father knows exactly how I speak to you, and he couldn't care less,” she snarked, looking pleased with herself..
The teasing glint in Tsukishima’s eyes wavered at the comment, though he knew they shouldn’t have. ‘Don’t dish it if you can’t take it’ he always said. He knew his father loved him the way any man loves his son, but Kei’s rank in his father’s heart in relation to money had always been questionable.
“Sorry. Too much,” (Y/N) said quietly. She pulled up her dive skin and removed her windbreaker, revealing a matching bikini top.
“It’s not your fault,” the blonde mumbled back. (Y/N) made her way around the desk. Leaning her weight on the edge facing him, she said, “Really, I’m sorry. That was in bad taste.”
Tsukishima waved dismissively, “It’s fine, you didn’t mean it. Just caught me off guard… Actually, I came to apologize to you for earlier.”
She grimaced, “I’m sorry for freaking out so hard. I didn’t mean to make trouble for you the same day as a shareholders’ meeting.”
“You’d be okay with making trouble for me normally?”
“That a serious question?”
With a light chuckle he said, “Right, right. It’s fine... I’m sorry for not
hearing you out. For what it’s worth, that guy is as good as fired.”
“Fired!?” she yelped, making him jump. “Wait, you can’t fire him!”
“Actually, I can--”
“Fine. As his boss, you legally could fire him, but I’m saying don’t. One, we can easily get him to clean up his act. Two, his wife is preggers. Gregnant. Pregante.”
“I got it the first time.”
“Just making sure.”
Tsukishima huffed, holding back a smile, “Worrying about someone whose head you were about to bite off two hours ago. That’s just like you.”
There was a gentle knock at the door and Yamaguchi, a paleo-veterinary intern, poked his head through the doorway.
“(Y/N), are you ready for the show? We have 20 minutes until start time,” he informed her with a sweet smile.
“Yup!” She stuffed her arms through the tight neoprene sleeves, “Are you the specialist on standby this time, Yama?”
The shorter girl turned around and moved her hair to the side in a silent request. Standing to his full height, Tsukishima pinched the sides of her zipper with one hand and pulled the tab up with.
Yamaguchi couldn’t help but laugh. His two friends stopped, (Y/N) with her hands holding up her hair, Tsukishima with his hands tugging on her suit zipper.
“What’s so funny?” his childhood friend asked. Yamaguchi just shook his head and confirmed that, yes, he would be on medical standby for the upcoming show.
“Close the door when you leave, okay, Tsukki?” (Y/N) shot over her shoulder on the way out.
“Good luck with your show,” he said simply. She frowned in confusion. Before she could comment, Yamaguchi rushed her out the door.
~~
“--near the surface of the water, where it preyed on anything it could sink its teeth into, including turtles, small fish, even smaller mosasaurs, but don’t worry, that’s not why Dolly here doesn’t have any siblings.”
The crowd chuckled. Tsukishima always enjoyed when (Y/N) did the demonstrations herself. The guides did the jobs they were contracted to do, and maybe it was that he already knew how much she loved Dolly, but whenever (Y/N) did it, it always felt less like a show and more like the introduction of a close friend of hers. That was the truth, after all.
“You see, when Dolly was born, I was the first thing she saw. This caused something called imprinting, and if I just made you think about that freaky Twilight baby, I’m so sorry.”
Another wave of laughter rippled through the crowd. “And what that means is, Dolly and I share a special bond. She feels a special connection to me that she doesn’t feel for any other creature on this planet. When she was growing up, we communicated with this,” she held up a silver whistle.
“You can’t hear these sounds, but Dolly can. She knows the sound of the whistle, and that makes her think, ‘Oh, that’s my handler! Yay, she’s gonna feed me!’ Which is something I thought whenever my mom called my name during my teenage years.”
“She’s entertaining, isn’t she?” one of his father’s associates commented. Rather than sitting in the wide open arena seats under the beating sun, Kei’s father, the elder Tsukishima, sat up in an air-conditioned glass box high above the regular seats. Today, a group of shareholders and potential investors were performing their monthly assessment of the park’s assets. After going to every single one of these meetings since he was twelve, Tsukishima was more or less used to these meetings, but he was getting irked by the way a particularly sweaty, sleazy-looking businessman two and a half times his age was staring not at the tank itself, but at the trainer on the platform above it. If it weren’t for his father, he would have nastily told all of them to never take even a single breath in her direction.
“The girl’s gotten real grown up since we first saw her,” the man said, rubbing his chin.
‘Don’t look at her like that,’ Kei growled internally.
“Good eye, Yamada-san. She just turned twenty-one,” his father replied.
‘But that doesn’t concern you,’ Kei thought.
“Really? She looks young, but she seems so mature for her age,” another dirty businessman observed.
“You always did like the young-looking ones, you creepy old man!” laughed Yamada. Tsukishima bit down on his tongue so hard he had to remind himself not to bite it off.
“Ah, yes, I took her age into account from the get-go,” Tsukishima-san said. “By nature, the mosasaurus would only accept one trainer, and I brought her to the island at such a young and impressionable age that she would only listen to me.”
“And then you have a safe way to control the dinosaur,” one of the shareholders concluded.
“Exactly. And you’re right, Yamada-san, she’s grown up to be quite attractive. Shame she ended up so strong-willed, else she might have made a quality match for my son. Perhaps if Kei here can reel her in, he’ll make a wife out of her yet, right, son?”
The younger Tsukishima’s skin crawled as every pair of eyes in the room landed on him. He could just imagine opening his mouth and ripping them all a new one. What would Yamada say if he called him out on his predatory behavior? Or he could say, ‘Ah, Mr. Kawasaki, how’s that custody battle with your wife going? I hear she’s winning because the kids would rather live with her. Oh, Chairman Yang, I didn’t see you there! Have you beaten that nasty gambling addiction of yours? Goodness, from the looks of those eye bags and how badly your ‘designer’ suit is frayed, my guess is no.”
But Kei can’t say any of those things. He has too much to lose, should he compromise his position as his father’s heir and future CEO. The blonde glanced briefly out the window at the smiling girl talking animatedly about her most treasured friend. He mentally sends her an apology for being unable to defend her yet again.
Kei grit his teeth and finally replies.
“Yes, father.”
If he were born as anyone else, he could romance her properly, instead of passing glances, not-so-subtle flirting, and raging sexual tension. They wouldn’t have had to play the whole ‘will we or won’t we?’ schtick. But he was still Tsukishima Kei. He was destined to take over his father’s company, and by design, his partner would have to attend board meetings and brunches and wine and cheese parties. Kei had no desire to drag (Y/N) into that kind of life, but what’s more, (Y/N) would never agree to it. At one time, he considered asking her about it. Ask her to consider making that sacrifice for him. But at the end of the day, he never did bring it up to her because he was scared of the answer he’d receive.
Her enthusiastic voice faded back into his consciousness, “Enough of me talking. Is everyone ready to meet Dolly?”
They all turned back to the window at the sound of (Y/N)’s voice.
The crowd cheered in affirmation.
“What was that? I can’t hear you?”
The cheers transitioned into a deafening roar.
“Alright, for those of you in the splash zone, expect to get soaked in about ten seconds and counting.”
(Y/N) pressed a button, and the feeder crane slowly moved to dangle a heavy shark over the mosasaurus tank. The trainer leaned against her platform’s railing. She put the whistle to her lips, but no one heard any sound.
“You hungry, girl?” she asked the tank. There was no prior indication of any movement before the leviathan reptilian dinosaur leapt out of the water and easily snatched up its prey with its rows of hundreds of teeth. Its great mass seemed to linger midair for what felt like forever before sliding back into the water with a giant splash that had the crowd squealing with delight.
“Hold on tight,” (Y/N) spoke up as the stands started lowering under the stadium, “We’re gonna get to take a little closer look at our girl, Dolly the Mosasaurus.”
~~
“How was your meeting?” (Y/N) asked upon her arrival in Tsukishima’s own office, finally free of her restricting wetsuit and hair still wet from her shower. Not looking up from his paperwork, the blonde grunted, “Fine.”
(Y/N) smiled and sat on the edge of the desk beside him. Both hands came up to zip her windbreaker.
“That bad, huh?”
“You sit in a glass box for 45 minutes with a group of men over fifty, and tell me you had fun,” he grumbled. Giving him a sympathetic look, she slid off the desk to place her hands on his shoulders. She gently massaged the tension from them. Lately, Tsukishima Senior had been giving his son more responsibility to “prepare him to take over the company,” which would have been a more believable excuse if the older man wasn’t relaxing by the pool and golfing with his friends 4 days a week. Kei leaned into her touch.
‘You are nothing like your father, though, Kei,’ she internally mused. Dragging her hands down from his shoulders to clasp in front of him, she hugged him from behind. Soothed by her presence, he wondered if he even needed to tell her how he felt about her. It seemed like she already suspected. Though, if she already knew and wasn’t saying anything, what exactly were her feelings on the matter?
“Today was so tiring, Tsukki,” she rested her chin on top of his blonde head. “This family was asking me questions, but their two irritating ass kids kept climbing on the primary railings, and the mom got mad at me when I told them to knock it off! Like, do you want your kids to get chomped by a genetically engineered dinosaur, Brenda? Then, she asked for my manager, and I’m like, ‘Bitch, I will literally throw you in the damn tank! There, that’s my manager, you entitled piece of-- ughhh!!” (Y/N) buried her face in Tsukishima’s shoulder in frustration. “I hate customer service! Fuck her! Fuck them kids!”
“You said that to her?” he teased. Secretly, he was happy that she was tired today. A Tired (Y/N) meant a Sweet (Y/N), and after those creeps were leering at her in the box today, he was just glad she was somewhere he could keep an eye on her.
“Suck my dick, Kei, you know I wouldn’t actually say that. I still enjoy getting paychecks,” her words were muffled by his shoulder. ‘Sweet’ is a relative term for her.
“I’d pay good money to see you cuss someone out.”
“You would, wouldn’t you,” she replied.
Tsukishima desperately wanted to tell her how he felt. It was getting really irritating that they could do stuff like this, but he couldn’t tell those sweaty old men in the box today to keep their perverted stares off of her.
Tentatively, he turned his head towards her, lips ghosting along her jawline. His heart sped up as her fingers tightened into his dress shirt.
When his arm slid around her waist, she was like putty in his hands.
“You-- You’re kinda giving me mixed signals here, Kei,” she said breathlessly. The taller male placed his forehead against hers. His eyes stared down at her lips as he debated the long-term consequences of giving into his desires.
“I know,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”
(Y/N) brought her hand up to cup his face. They both leaned in slowly, as if moving any faster would ruin the tension.
“Don’t be…” she whispered.
The office door slammed open with a bang.
“Sir?” (Y/N) jumped back from him like she’d been burned.
“What?” he snapped at the intruder.
“Your father wants you and Miss (L/N) in a meeting right away.”
~~
“Tsukishima-san, I don’t see why--”
“Of course you don’t, (Y/N),” Kei’s father cut her off, “You have a personal connection with the animal. That was the one oversight I made when I brought you to the island as a trainer.”
They sat in a boardroom, surrounding a large table with Tsukishima senior at one end, (Y/N) at the other, and the board members on either side. The blazing sunlight of Isla Nublar that shone in through the large floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the room contrasted heavily with the dark tension permeating throughout the room. Kei tapped his fingers against the table from his spot on his father’s right side.
Of all the ‘strategic investments’ his father made, this was definitely not one Kei could have predicted.
The girl took a deep breath, “With all due respect, sir, it can’t be a good idea to reinvent a new species of mosasaur. I think--”
“See, that’s the problem, sweetheart,” the sweaty man from before chimed in. “You’re not here to think, you’re here to look pretty, and to tell the dinosaur what to do.”
“I don’t appreciate your tone, Yamada.”
“I don’t appreciate your attitude, little girl,” he shot back.
Tsukishima Senior cut in, “Try to understand, (Y/N). The Indominus Rex has been a huge hit. The numbers say that these new hybrid dinosaurs are the next big thing. We can’t pass up an astronomical amount of money just so you can keep your pet.”
“My pet?” (Y/N) spat.
“Now, (Y/N), there’s no need to get hysterical.”
“Hysterical? My reaction is perfectly reasonable considering you want to euthanize the creature I’ve raised since birth, which, may I remind you, is something you people wanted me to do.”
“Doctor Wu and the rest of the genetics team is already engineering the genetics for a new mosasaur. Bigger, more teeth--”
“But they couldn’t engineer any more brain cells for all of you?!” she interjected.
“That’s enough!” CEO Tsukishima slammed his hand on the meeting table. “You’re like a daughter to me, (Y/N), but I won’t take this level of disrespect from you.”
(Y/N) rested her hands atop the table and leaned in, meeting his glare head-on.
“If you want to do anything to Dolly, you’ll need my help, and I will not do anything that can compromise her.”
“What a mouthy little thing,” one of the shareholders muttered.
“Give her to me, I’ll shut her up,” another said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Tsukishima took a deep, stabilizing breath from beside his father.
“I chose you because I saw something in you. I never expected you to be this selfish,” the elder snapped, “You’re being unreasonable. Kei is barely older than you, and he understands that there’s profit to be made by replacing the damn dinosaur. Tell her, Kei.”
The room went silent. (Y/N) stared deeply into her friend’s golden brown eyes.
‘Don’t do this, Kei. They want you to become your father, but you are not your father. You are so much more.’
The younger Tsukishima felt like he was being crushed by an incredible weight. Whatever he did now, it would be nearly impossible to take back. If he chose her, his father may never forgive him. The problem was: If he chose his place as his father’s heir, would he ruin his relationship with (Y/N) forever? Which one of them could he live without? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. His steady gaze met with (Y/N)’s intense stare. He hoped he sounded more sure than he felt.
“Yes, (Y/N). My father’s right.”
(Y/N) first looked surprised, then immensely disappointed. Realizing there was no one on her side, she sighed.
“I came to this island because I thought this company might be different. When you asked me to train the mosasaurus from birth, I was overjoyed at how much you cared for her development,” she made sure to stare into the soul of each and every dirty scoundrel in the room. “But I made a mistake, too. All of you are cowards. Selfish, soulless, money-grubbing cowards.” Blazing eyes finally landed on Kei’s wide golden brown ones. She aimed her final statement at him.
“Every last one of you.”
Kei’s heart squeezed so hard he thought his chest would collapse.
“Tsukishima-san!” a mousey-looking secretary burst into the boardroom. CEO Tsukishima clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“What is it now?” he snapped.
“It’s the Indominus! She’s escaped!”
Deafening alarms and flashing red lights resounded throughout the control room. Kei could barely hear his father barking orders to the security team. One of the technicians pulled up a giant map of the park on the main screen.
“She’s still on the outer edges of the park, but she’s moving fast, sir,” they said.
“Have the Asset Containment Unit get this thing under control. Make sure they use non-lethals.”
“Non-lethals!” (Y/N) yelled, outraged.
“We have 26 million dollars invested in that asset,” the elder Tsukishima growled.
Exasperated, (Y/N) threw her hands in the air. She avoided Kei’s eyes as she
turned and sprinted out of the control room.
Kei hesitated. Before he could chase after her, his father ordered him to stay put to help in the control room. Though it made him feel like he wanted to vomit, he obeyed.
Several hours passed and Tsukishima’s mind felt like it was at its breaking point. The monitors flashing red in the dimly lit control room strained his eyes to the point where he was convinced he’d need a stronger prescription after this. The beeping of the ACU team’s EKG monitors flatlining rang in his ears so loud he wished he would just go deaf. The Indominus was picking off their security team with ease, sometimes several members at a time. The young man rubbed at his temples.
“Tsukishima, we’re evacuating the rides on the outer edges at the park,” the lead Park Operations Assistant slid a map over to him. Taking a red marker, she circled a few attractions directly in the escaped dinosaur’s projected path.
“But I think these preparations insufficient,” she said, nervously twisting
the pen in her grip.
“We’d evacuate the whole park if it were up to me,” Tsukishima said under
his breath.
The assistant pursed her lips, “It’s a shame we’ll definitely be shut down
after this. You would have made a great CEO.”
“Are you flirting with me?” the blonde joked.
“Please, you’re so whipped for (Y/N) it hurts to look at you,” the assistant snorted in reply.
Before Tsukishima could make a snarky retort, both of their attentions were drawn to CEO Tsukishima, who had a large, middle aged man at his side.
“Kei, come over here!” the older man called.
Tsukishima handed the map back over to the assistant, “This is fine for now. If the situation escalates or if it doesn’t improve in an hour or so, close all the attractions on the west side of the park. I’ll be right back.”
The assistant grabbed his arm, “Tsukishima, that’s Vic Hoskins, the head of the private security force.”
“My father introduced us not long ago. What about him?”
“Commander Hoskins isn’t just a brute, he’s an ignorant one, and that makes him dangerous. If your father is listening to him, be careful.”
Tsukishima nodded gratefully.
“I will. I’ll be right back.”
He didn’t wait for the assistant’s reply before making his way to his father’s side, who pulled him off to the side. Hoskins had apparently taken his leave.
“The helicopter will be here in 10 minutes, make sure you’re at the helipad by then,” he told his son.
The younger Tsukishima’s eyes widened.
“What? Where are we going?” he asked.
His father turned to him, “Commander Hoskins has strongly advised us to get off the island. We can do our part in containing this crisis remotely.”
The younger man blanched, “We’re just going to leave? We still have people to evacuate, not to mention medical teams to coordinate, personnel to--”
CEO Tsukishima placed a hand on his son’s shoulder, “We can do all of these things remotely. Our first priority is maintaining our safety, and besides, the situation is in good hands with our employees here. It’s as good as contained.”
The CEO smiled and turned to leave. Kei didn’t move.
“Come on, Kei,” the older man urged.
Tsukishima took a deep breath.
“If the situation is ‘as good as contained,’ then why are we leaving the island?” he asked.
His father sighed, “I understand your concern, Kei, this is a safety issue--”
“So, you agree? You do think that evacuation is the correct safety measure?” Kei looked his father directly in his familiar amber eyes.
The elder shifted, “What are you implying, Kei?”
“I’m saying as long as we choose not to actively evacuate the island, we have a responsibility to our employees and to our guests to stay and control the situation the best we can.”
The flatlining EKG monitors were still ringing in his ears. If he left the island now, he’d never stop hearing the beeping of those monitors. They’d exist in his nightmares forever.
“Stay here, then, Kei,” his father’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.
He raised a brow, “Just me?”
“There’s no point to being in power if you refuse to reap the benefits of it. The helicopter is leaving soon. Join me, Kei. Don’t try to play hero when you’re not.”
(Y/N)’s face flashed in his mind. He couldn’t be sure where she ran off to after she left, but if he had to guess, it would have been to the main hall or to the infirmary to care for guests. Either way, she’d never dream of leaving the island with so much at stake. Neither could he, and the thought of leaving her behind made his answer clear.
“No, I’m not going. Have a safe flight.” He turned on his heel and marched back to the central console. To his horror, Asset Containment Unit Alpha had been almost entirely wiped out. Only 4 members of a 12-person team remained.
“They’re not gonna make it, Tsukishima, we need to tell them to pull back,” the P.O. Assistant insisted.
He nodded, “Do it.”
The woman quickly gave the order. “Has your father finally--”
“My father is vacating the island with the board members and other investors as we speak,” Tsukishima said.
“Why am I not--” the assistant’s phone went off. “Hello? ...You what?”
“What happened?”
She snapped her phone shut, “It’s--it’s Takeru, my nephew. He was visiting the park today, but my assistant says he got separated from her, and-- and--”
“Hey,” he grabbed her shoulders. “Don’t freak out. It’s not like you, and it won’t help.”
“You’re right,” she said shakily, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. “I know I have work to do here, but I have to go find him, Tsukishima. I can’t--”
“I get it. Just go.”
The assistant nodded gratefully, sprinting out of the board room. As she
left, yet another assistant came for his attention and he was plunged back into the thick of things.
Meanwhile, (Y/N) stood at the doors of the underground lab. Her eyes were wild and her face flushed from exertion. The pristine, white lab was a stark contrast to the sweaty, panicked mob she passed by on her way here. It was as if the panic of the Indominus’s escape had no effect, save for the swarm of people in lab coats quickly packing up their equipment into thick armored suitcases. With the move in full swing, the lab doors were set wide open. In the chaos, she managed to slip into one of the adjoining storage rooms, where she found a large computer monitor. The bright blue screen was blinding in the dimly lit room. A profile displayed on the screen read “Indominus Rex.”
The young woman scrolled down the profile. She had to find out what the dinosaur was made of. The ACU would never survive without that information. They may not even survive with it. Finally, under the section titled “Genetic Makeup”, she found what she’s looking for. Before she could react to her findings, there was a sharp pain in the skill and she dropped to the ground unconscious.
Back in the control room, Kei gripped his cell phone tightly. Eighteen missed calls and (Y/N) still wouldn’t pick up. He couldn’t fight it anymore. He had a tech trace her cellphone and he hastily exited the room.
Once he left the building, Kei was greeted with what he expected hell looked like. There was a swarm of panicked park guests, sweaty and fearful. Several were injured from the sudden panic. Some had a haunted look in their eye that suggested they’d seen something that would haunt their nightmares for years to come. And where was his father? Safe on a helicopter, leaving all these people to fend for themselves simply because he could.
Kei was disgusted with himself. The Indominus had escaped hours ago. All this chaos could have been avoided by simply evacuating the park. But who cared about people’s lives when there was still profit to be made? Sure, he hadn’t actively supported his father’s selfishness, but he definitely didn’t object to it either. In all his indecision, ultimately, he was siding with his father. He was equally to blame for all this.
As Kei entered the underground tunnels, the screaming and cries of the panicked went silent. He realized he could hide away in the tunnels until the situation had blown over. Instead, Kei chose to press forward, knowing it wasn’t fair that he had that luxury.
The Mosasaur Stadium sat in the middle of the underground tunnels. From his view from the glass, Dolly, like her trainer, was nowhere to be found.
By the time Kei made it to the lab, it had been picked clean of equipment and personnel. All that remained were sterilized lab benches and pristine white walls. He found (Y/N) on the floor of an empty storage room. There was a nasty gash in the back of her head.
Kei kneeled and gently put two fingers to her pulse.
“Wake up!” he snapped at her. To his relief, her eyelids fluttered open. “Thank god. What the hell were you doing down here?”
“Ouch, my head,” she moaned. “I thought… the ACU… If they knew what the Indominus was made of…”
Kei nodded in understanding. He removed his tie to apply pressure to her wound.
“And? What is it?”
(Y/N) shook her head.
“I dunno. I think they hit me right as I saw.”
(Y/N) sat up, slowly regaining her strength.
“How much of the park has been evacuated?” she asked.
Kei checked his messages, “Almost everyone has been moved to secure locations or off the island completely.”
“What’s left?”
“The control room.”
She looked at him meaningfully and he nodded in agreement. Quickly dialing a number, he raised the phone to his ear.
“Evacuate the control room,” he said.
“Sir, are you sure?” the voice on the other end replied.
“Positive. I’ll take care of everything when I get there,” Kei reassured.
“...take care, sir,” the voice said reluctantly.
“You too.” Tsukishima ended the call and looked at (Y/N), who was already standing. She steadied herself against a wall, her balance wavered slightly, but her eyes were resolute.
“Let’s see what we can do.”
The underground tunnels were expansive. As the mosasaur trainer stalked down the hall ahead of him, Kei forced himself to speak up.
“I couldn’t, you know,” Tsukishima said.
“If you have to talk to me, say shit that makes sense,” (Y/N) snapped.
“My father. He wanted me to evacuate with him, but--”
“What? You could’ve gotten out of here! Do you have any idea how hard shit’s hit the fan?”
“I needed to know you were okay.”
(Y/N)’s expression softened for just a moment, then she ripped her gaze from his face. She retorted, “Why? You don’t seem to have a problem with hanging me out to dry.”
“(Y/N), I was--”
“Would you have left if not for me?” she demanded, stopping and facing him with her arms crossed.
It took Kei a minute to find an honest answer.
“No. I wouldn’t have. I’m rich, I’m an asshole, but I wouldn’t have left all these people. Not when I have the kind of clearance to help them, and especially not since all this is my fault.”
(Y/N) looked at him, bewildered.
“Your fault? How on Earth is this your fault?”
Kei shrugged, “I knew evacuation was the only safe bet, but I was too much of a coward to tell my father so. At least my father is blinded by money. Me, I don’t have an excuse.”
(Y/N) walked on silently for a while, opening her mouth a few times to speak, but shutting it each time. Eventually, she gave into the silence.
They came to the underground stadium, where the massive fiberglass panes housed the park’s biggest attraction.
(Y/N) placed her hand on the glass.
“Dolly… You okay, girl?”
Something enormous splashed into the water. When the bubbles cleared, there was Dolly, swimming around the bitten carcass of a pterosaur, as if she was celebrating her catch. The reptile’s handler smiled weakly.
“Good girl.”
“(Y/N).”
Tsukishima took her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him. His tired eyes met hers. The blonde watched as the only person who really mattered to him glared back with a look of sadness, frustration, and betrayal.
“You would have supported them?” she asked sharply.”
“Look, I’ve been trained to follow orders my whole life--”
“And I’m sorry for that. But you can unlearn what you’ve been taught, Kei. You know how much I love Dolly! You knew, and-- and,” she gripped his shirt. The trainer hung her head in defeat.
“I thought you weren’t like your father.”
“I’m not, I promise. I’m sorry,” he whispered. This was it. He had to tell her. If he didn’t do it now, he never would.
“(Y/N), I lo--”
“No!”
Kei looked stunned, “No?”
“No! Dammit, Kei, I can’t do this with you right now. First, this is not the time. Second, you stabbed me in the back, like, two hours ago!
“I said I was sorry!”
“I get that, Kei, but for important shit like this, sorry just isn’t good enough, okay? Now, let’s get to the control room and get this dinosaur under wraps, then maybe we can have this conversation.”
Tsukishima pursed his lips, “Okay. Okay, I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
(Y/N) kept walking down the corridor, “Don’t be. Let’s just deal with the situation at hand.” The trainer produced a flip phone from her pocket. The person she was calling picked up on the third ring and she put the call on speaker.
“(Y/N)!” the familiar voice called in relief.
“Yama! You’re still doing okay?” she asked. The line went quiet for a while,
“Yams?” Another pause before the intern responded, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She and Tsukishima looked at each other, “Yama, what happened? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m not hurt, I just… Oh god, (Y/N), it’s Hinata,” Yamaguchi’s voice
cracked at the end.
(Y/N)’s breath caught in her throat, “What happened to Hinata?”
On the other end, she could hear Yamaguchi choking back a sob.
“He went to the aviary to check for survivors and I saw his vitals monitor. He’s flatlined, (Y/N), he’s dead.”
Tsukishima closed his eyes. The whole situation was snowballing so damn fast and there was so little anyone could do about it.
“No…” (Y/N) whispered, “Jesus, I’m sorry, Yama.”
“Me too,” he replied. Yamaguchi sniffled, then his voice stabilized, “Anyway, keep making your way to the control room. I’ll get into the database somehow and we’ll figure out how to stop this thing.”
“Got it. Please be-- ...careful,” she said softly.
“(Y/N)?”
She clutched her head, “It’s coming back to me now… Yamaguchi! The Indominus! I saw it on the database, could it be part raptor?”
On the other side, Yamagichi gasped, “They never let me see the file, but now that I think about it, it’s highly likely! I’ll contact Iwaizumi and see if there’s anything he can help with! Let me know if anything changes!”
“I will. Please be careful,” she begged.
“I will, and you, too, (Y/N). Tell Tsukki I love him.”
“I love you, too, Yamaguchi,” Kei replied. With that, the call clicked off.
(Y/N) inhaled deeply, “Hinata’s dead.”
“I heard.”
She shook her head, “Let’s just keep moving. I--”
Her eyes fixed on the tank where Dolly had just leapt out of the water for prey again. Bubbles flooded their view as the massive dinosaur crashed back down into her tank. (Y/N)’s mouth dropped open.
“Holy shit.”
“What is it?”
(Y/N) started sprinting down the corridor towards the control room, “I have an idea!”
~~
‘You better know what you’re doing, (Y/N),’ Tsukishima thought. He paced the floor of the control room nervously as he waited for the signal.
Their plan was well underway, and it had gone surprisingly well, which was all the more reason for him to feel like something was going to go horribly wrong.
When (Y/N) originally told him what the plan was, his response was, “Fuck no,” but after Yamaguchi and Iwaizumi both agreed that it was their best bet, Kei relented, though not without voicing his displeasure extensively.
That girl was really lucky he L-worded her. Through the security monitors, he could see the T-Rex and the Raptors were tag-teaming the Indominus. They seemed to be making progress, but the whole group looked like they were losing steam.
The radio beside him crackled to life, making him jump.
“Kei? Can you hear me?” (Y/N)’s voice came through the machine.
“Loud and clear.”
“Okay, on my signal, cut the power to Security Fence 4.”
The button was red, marked with bold black letters, and had a plexiglass case over it. Kei pressed the “disable” button, making the screen read, ‘UNAUTHORIZED COMMAND: Please enter credentials.’ He typed, ‘Tsukishima Kei,’ placing his hand on the biometric scanner when prompted.
‘MANUAL OVERRIDE: Accepted
All the previously red buttons turned green.
“Okay. Ready when you are.”
“Good. Now, listen to me, Kei,” she said grimly, “You have to cut the power the moment I tell you to. The system has a backup generator that will kick in within 30 seconds. If it's electrified when we hit it, the jeep will explode and our whole plan is shot. That fence can NOT, I repeat, CAN NOT be electrified when I get there, do you understand?”
The male nodded weakly, then, realizing she couldn’t see him, said his affirmation aloud. The radio went quiet. On the screens, the Indominus dug it’s rows of razor sharp teeth into the T-Rex’s neck, throwing the creature as far as it would go. The T-Rex lay there and did not move.
The Indominus Rex roared in victory and went in for the kill. There was a bright flash of red further away as someone offscreen lit a flare. The light became brighter as the person neared (Y/N) and they tossed it into the jeep, catching the Indominus’s attention.
Turning away from it’s prize, the hybrid screeched in rage and took off towards the light. (Y/N) hopped out of the driver’s seat, placing something on the gas pedal and diving away from the vehicle.
‘It might be better if I stay in the jeep and drive it myself,’ he remembered her saying back in the control room.
‘Better for you dying. If the impact with the fence doesn’t kill you, you’ll either drown or Dolly will eat you,’ he’d snapped.
‘But what if--’
He cut her off, ‘But nothing. Put a brick on the gas and move out of the way. There’s no reason to put you in any further danger.’
Amazingly, Kei was the one who won that debate and that’s what brought them to the present moment, with (Y/N) scrambling up off the floor and sprinting out of the Indominus’s path.
The hybrid dinosaur sprinted after the jeep that was speeding towards the mosasaur tank. The distance between the two was closing at an alarming rate.
Just before the vehicle made contact with the security fence, the radio crackled to life, “Now, Kei!”
Tsukishima slammed the button.
‘SECURITY FENCE 4: Disabled’
Just before it made contact with the fence, the jeep’s metal frame crunched under the Indominus’s powerful jaws.
“Fuck!” Kei yelled at the sight. A few seconds later, the buttons turned back to red and the screen read, ‘SECURITY FENCE 4: Enabled.’
“Well, what now?” he yelled into the radio.
“Uh, I don’t--! Fuck-- I don’t know, I’m out of ideas!” she cried in response.
Having been given a break, one of the raptors jumped in, ready to finish the fight. The creature leapt into action to subdue the murderous hybrid, but with that size difference, she wouldn’t last long.
On the verge of panic, (Y/N) said, “If the jeep broke through the fence, Dolly would have noticed the prey, but the Indominus by itself hasn’t gotten her attention! She must be too deep!”
“Well, then, get her attention!” he shot back.
(Y/N) gasped, yanking her whistle out from inside her windbreaker, “Hold me up to the main PA.”
He reached over and jabbed the button.
(Y/N) looked up when she heard his voice over the speakers spread throughout the park, “Whenever you’re ready.”
As Kei keld the radio up to the PA, (Y/N) put her whistle to her lips and blew as hard as she could, the sound undetectable by human ears. They waited with baited breath as the Indominus flung the raptor aside, where the smaller reptile did not get up. The Indominus stopped and let out another bloodcurdling roar.
When nothing more happened, all Kei could think was, ‘We failed.’
Just then, quicker than Kei could comprehend, an incredible volume of water overtook his field of view. Water droplets obscured the CCTV cameras giving him a view of the action, and when they cleared, it took him a moment to register the massive aquatic dinosaur protruding halfway out of its paddock. It held the silver, spiny-backed hybrid in its ginormous maw of thousands of teeth. Crushed by a predator honed by millions of years of evolution, the Indominus writhed in pain and panic, but its struggle only opened more wounds in its flank. It screeched in pain or terror or frustration, Kei wasn’t sure. The only thing that mattered was the slick sound of Dolly sliding backwards into her enclosure, taking her prey with her. All that was left was dark purple blood, soaked pavement, a broken fence still sparking, and a crushed jeep.
“Holy shit,” Tsukishima whispered.
“Holy shit,” (Y/N) murmured in agreement before her knees gave out and she fell to the floor unconscious.
~~
With the Indominus gone and the pterosaurs having been hunted down by the military, park guests were being reunited with their friends and family. Rescue teams were sent to canvas the park for survivors, though they were advised not to get too close to the mosasaur tank. Tsukishima shuddered, knowing that the mosasaurus was always fully capable of leaping halfway out of its tank, she simply chose not to, perhaps out of respect for (Y/N). If, by some miracle, the park survived, he’d have to enforce some serious regulations.
“Tsukishima-san?” one of the surviving guards came to collect him. Conveniently, Kei’s general demeanor kept him from flinching at being addressed the way he heard everyone address his father. The guard led him to a private section of the infirmary, where he saw (Y/N) sitting on a cot looking like she’d spent the last 10 hours in a ditch, though her injuries otherwise looked far from anything life threatening.
“Oh, relax, I’m fine,” she said when she saw the look on his face. “I just got myself all scratched up jumping out of the jeep. I’m not even that hurt.”
Kei scooped her up in his arms in relief.
“Okay, owie, owie, I’m not completely unharmed, stop, stop, stop,” she whined.
The tall male pulled back and stared down at her. The left side of her face has several cuts and she held an ice pack to her ribs on the same side. She had heavy bags under her eyes, but those same eyes shone with relief and delight now that the whole ordeal was over.
“I’d ask if you had brain damage, but you must’ve already had some to come up with such a reckless plan,” he scolded.
(Y/N) gaped at him, “Reckless? It worked! Don’t be mean, Kei, I did good today.”
“You would have done great today if you hadn’t come back to me injured.”
“Again, it worked, didn’t it?”
“I suppose,” he rolled his eyes. “But it would really do wonders for my blood pressure if the person I care about most didn’t have such self-destructive tendencies.”
She grinned at his choice of words, “What was that you called me just now?”
“Self-destructive.” Chuckling, he took her hand in his, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it. “Are we gonna be okay?” he asked, not making eye contact with her.
Content, the girl smiled and nestled against her pillows. Her eyes slowly drifted shut.
“We’re gonna be just fine, Kei,” she replied. For a moment he thought she didn’t quite understand what he meant until she squeezed his hand gently. Tsukishima smiled in relief, squeezing her hand back.
“Kei?”
“Hmm?”
“I feel the same way.”
@delicious-peaches-blog
@unusproomnibusomnesprouno
@mac-the-oregonian
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themonotonysyndrome · 4 years ago
Text
The Queen’s Lynchpin
We’re getting to part 3 of the ‘Successors of the Future”! This week has gone back to being hectic so I could only write this part here and there for only a few hours. Still, I’m happy that I could finally finish it. 
And we have the names of MC’s and Yandere!Malleus children as well as his second wife and the other prince! Any piece of info from @tri3tri Second Wife AU is always fun to read! With that said, I’ll be adding their names into the 2 previous oneshots after this is posted so it’s all align. If you want to know more about this AU, please drop by at @tri3tri blog. Their content and drabbles are amazing!
Lastly, I think it’s alright if I don’t add the link and summary of the previous oneshots of this series in every new piece. The intro is just gonna be super long otherwise. But if you guys think that a link and summary it’s a good, please let me know I’ll be sure to add them in. 
-
“Uh Mama? Have you been hearing... noises in the middle of the night?”
“You mean your sister talking to her mirror in her room in the dead of the night? Then yes, sweetie.”
MC smile, deeply amused, when her son let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just her talking to Ren.” 
“I’ll tell her to keep it down if she’s talking to Renata at night, don’t worry.” MC assured him with a pat on his head. 
“Thanks, Mama. Say, do you have any plans for today?” Lucien’s sudden question was a little odd to MC. The three of them have been staying in the house - only going out for a grocery run - lately, and she didn’t have any plans to change it. 
“Not really. I was thinking to catch up with some leftover work from the office before Monday comes. Why? Do you want to go anywhere?” MC inquire curiously.
Lucien is quick to shake his head. “Oh, no, no. Umm... Mama, you often look so sad lately. We know that having Ren away at Twisted Wonderland has been hard on you, so I just thought maybe we could all do something to help make you feel better.” He explains with a bit of hesitance, wringing his hands. It’s clear to MC that this is one sensitive topic that he didn’t want to unintentionally hurt her with. 
MC couldn’t help but smile at how thoughtful her little one is. Really, all of her children can be rowdy in their own way but at the end of the day, she always noticed that they tried so hard not to make her worry. But as the parent, it’s her honour to protect her children - not the other way around. Which is why seeing the hesitant expression on Lucien’s face tugs her heart. 
“Oh, Luci. I didn’t mean to worry you and your sisters. It’s just that...” MC paused for a moment to think on how to properly express her feelings. “None of you has ever been separated from me. The issue with your father is one thing, but I can’t help but fret about your oldest sister. Is she eating well over there? Sleeping early on a school day? Oh, but then again, she does have a habit of waking up around 2 in the morning looking for a snack if she sleeps too early.” MC bit her lower lip, she should have told Renata during their last talk to keep some snacks in her room in case she gets hungry. 
Ever since Renata had first contacted Sherrie and taught her the communication runes and she in return, taught her and Lucien on how to draw them on any mirror in the house, they all have been talking to Renata through the large, hanging mirror in the living room every day. 
“We can ask her if she’s been waking up in the middle of night after our dinner, Mama.” Lucien assured their mother. He took her empty tea cup and pour some tea from the still hot pot and push the porcelain cup back to her. They were having tea and a light meal in the kitchen after he had woken up from his nap. 
Sherrie passed on their invitation since she’s too busy livestreaming her latest game in her room. From below, they could hear her muffled voice. 
MC took a sip and hums thoughtfully. “You’re right, Honey. I’ll be sure to do that. Anyway, you mentioned a family activity - what do you have in mind?” Perhaps a distraction is just what she needed to get her mind off Malleus and the inevitable danger he’ll bring. 
Lucien’s eyes brighten in delight. Happy that he could do something to cheer her up. 
“I found this recipe recently and I was hoping that we can all cook together? It’ll be fun I promise!” He pleaded. Among all her children, Lucien is the only one with the knack for cooking. Sherrie can make simple meals whenever she wants. 
Renata, however, needs to be supervised even if she wants to boil a pot of water. 
“Sure! I’d love to. So what’s this recipe you want to cook?” 
Much later when it’s almost dinner time and Sherrie wrapped up her livestream, MC and Lucien are already in the kitchen preparing to cook. Curiously, she glances at the list of ingredients and steps for dinner that was left on the kitchen counter and her eyes bugged out at what they were going to make. 
“I feel like there are things that mankind should never attempt lest the price be their sanity. And this? This is it!” Sherrie shrieked, flapping the flimsy paper incredulously at them. MC is preparing the dough while Lucien makes sure they got all the ingredients out and ready. 
“What? Boba pizza sounds delicious!” Lucien rebuke with a small frown. “And beside, you won’t know if you like them if you haven’t try.” 
Sherrie just slap her forehead at his words, as if she couldn’t believe this. “I know you’re pretty crazy for boba teas but this is ridiculous! Pizza dessert for dinner? Can’t we have something normal, Mama?” She pleaded their mother. 
MC toss her a playful smile as she rolls the dough. “Well honey, it does sound pretty exciting when you said it. Pizza dessert!” When Sherrie’s face scrunched up in disgust, she tries to coax her daughter, “Aww, c’mon, honey. Look, you can order a delivery for yourself but come have fun with us! I’ll even let you toss the dough if you want.” 
Sherrie folded after that. Honestly, making pizza - of any kind - is always messy process, but her children are having fun with smudges of powder on their faces and MC felt her heart lighten just hearing them laugh. Dinner might be unconventional tonight, but it was worth it to see Lucien enjoy eating his pizza and Sherrie reluctant admittance that it tasted alright, if a bit weird. 
Once the kitchen is all cleaned up and their stomachs full, they settled in the living room. MC and Lucien watched as Sherrie used her old, red lipstick to draw the runes on the mirror. The surface rippled once, sinking the runes and reveal Renata in her pyjamas beaming at them. 
“Good evening everyone! How are ya’ll doing?” 
“Hi sweetie. We just had dinner.” MC said, glad that her eldest daughter still looks healthy and happy. 
“You wouldn’t believe what we had for dinner.” Sherrie interjects dryly. The 3 of them are sitting on the couch with MC in the middle. “It’s so weird!”
“But you liked it!” Lucien countered with a smug grin before turning to his oldest sister. “We had boba pizza! It was amazing!”
“Boba pizza!? Nooo! I can’t believe you all ate them without me! I’ve been wanting to try them!” Renata whines. “I wish we can pass stuffs through the mirror. Wait - I might be able to do something about that actually.” She goes on to mutter about needing to bully the headmaster again.  
The family traded what they did during the day, Renata assuring them that yes, she had a storage full of snacks in her room and that her favourite lesson so far is Flying class. Once that’s out of the way, MC asked her daughter, “How are your assignments? Is Leona-senpai’s son helping you out?”
When Renata told them that her History’s assignment partner is none other than Leona’s son, MC was a bit worried if he carries his father prejudice against Malleus towards her daughter, but Renata assured her that other than his funny attempts at posturing and warning growls, Bakari Kingscholar has been nothing but civil and helping out with researching and editing their papers. 
“Yup! We’re nearly done with our homework and I think we’re friends now? He’s a bit of tsundere which makes teasing him so much fun!” Renata giggled. “You know, just today we decided to have lunch together after our assignment and when I went back to my room and check my bag, there was a candy bar inside. He must’ve slip it in when I told him that I snacked often.” 
Sherrie immediately drop her phone. She was mindlessly browsing through her Twitter account while they talked, but her attention perk like a hound dog. “Whoa, whoa wait - he bought you food when you told him that you eat often? Me thinks he might like you, dude.” 
MC’s eyes widen and Lucien gape. Could that be true!? 
But Renata just rolled her eyes. “Oh please, I think he was thanking me for not making him do all the work. You know those tough guy acts? Yeah, it’s nothing special.” 
Sherrie tilt her head, clearly not believing it, but keep it to herself for now. 
“Being the only girl in a school for boys must be tough.” Lucien mused sympathetically. “I’m glad that you have a friend with you, Ren.” 
“Well, Diasomnia students has mostly been friendly yet distant with me so far. Probably because of this,” Renata twirl her fingers beside her horns to emphasise her point. “But it’s cool. So far, no one tries to bully me or anything. And by the way, I’ve been staying out of trouble, Cherry. I haven’t even landed myself in detention so far.” She proudly announced. 
“Yet.” Sherrie snickers. 
Lucien frowns at her. “Ren has been working hard, Cherry. She’s been sticking to your plans, right? I seriously don’t think she will mess it up.” 
“Nah, it’s all cool Luci. I’ve mostly been blowing off steam during Magishift. It’s super fun! I wish you guys could play too.” Renata said and then proceed to explain to her siblings what Magishift is all about. 
That’s another thing that MC had picked up as Lucien grew up. Despite how close her daughters are, they do bickers as sisters tend to and Lucien usually act as the mediator and peacemaker between them when things get too heated. 
MC couldn’t help wonder if her sweet boy would ever be like this if he was raised in Malleus’ castle.
The family talked a little more until it was getting late. After bidding each other goodnight and MC telling her daughter to keep herself safe, she ushered Lucien and Sherrie to their bed and tucked herself in. 
That night, she dreamt of a past memory. However in her dream, all 3 of her children are laughing and free as they grow in her world. 
-
Now that Lucien thinks about it - he doesn’t really know what Sherrie plan is exactly. He’s aware that they’re doing their best to help Renata avoid being discover by their father as long as they can and Mama told her to make friends with the children of her old friends since they helped her out a lot during her school life in Night Raven College but other than that? He doesn’t know what they would do once father found out about their oldest sister. 
That particular though came back in his mind when he woke up from his sleep because he heard Sherrie giggling in her room. With blearily eyes, he checked the time on his phone and groan. 
It’s 3.15 in the morning. 
He push himself out of his warm bed with great difficulties and slowly padded towards Sherrie’s bedroom. 
He knocked twice and groan, “Sherrie? It’s seriously late. Why aren’t you sleeping yet?” 
“Shit, Luci-chan? Sorry, did I woke you up? You can come in if you want. The door is not locked.” 
With a tired grumbled, he swings open the door and zombie-walk to her sister who is sitting in front of her vanity table, talking to Renata. 
“Hey Luci! Sorry that we woke you up!” Renata apologised quickly, guilty that they’ve disturbed their little brother. “I was just reporting to Cherry that I found several hidden and unmarked paths that connects to father’s castle and to the outside world of the Valley of Thorns. I thought it might come in handy so I wanted to share it with her.” 
That sounds interesting to Lucien. He’s a little more awake now. “Did you use your spells to scout the area?”
“I sure did! Haven’t been caught by anyone or any bat so far.” 
“What... what does father’s castle look like?” Lucien couldn’t help but asked. It’s hard to believe that he and his family are actually royalty. That his Mama and sisters used to live in a castle. 
It’s still hard to accept that he’s actually a prince. 
“Gloomy.” Was Renata immediate reply. All her previous good humour vanishes and her hard glare surprises him. “We hardly get any sunshine because father controls the weather with his temper tantrums.”
“Not to mention that we had to live with basically strangers.” Sherrie added. “I never really feel comfortable around the castle’s staffs. Sure we got the family wing all to ourselves but we still had to deal with them.” Both Lucien and Renata understand her unspoken words: having to deal with judgemental strangers is difficult. 
“What are you going to do once father founds out you’re in Twisted Wonderland, Ren? Are you going to go hiding?” Lucien asked. 
It’s Sherrie who answered him, “No. We’re going to make sure that he can’t forcefully take Mama or any of us back to the castle. I just need a little more info and we can act once the 3 of us are in Twisted Wonderland.” She explains. 
“We suspect that once Cherry hits sixteen, the Ebony Carriage will also pick her up and by that time I’ll be in my second year as a student here. If that’s the case, we just need you here and then it’s the second phase.” Renata took over explaining here. “Rumours spread fast in Night Raven College, but it’s not going to reach to father. He’s in an isolated country. Well, not until he’s here.”
Lucien blink, now lost. “He? Who’s he?” 
“We have a halfbrother - Victor. He’s the same age as you, Luci-chan. Looks like father didn’t waste any time getting his second wife pregnant.” Sherrie said with a smile that honestly send cold shivers up his spine. It’s sweet with a poison laced underneath. Lucien seen this smile only once. A girl from school tried to blackmailed and bullied her into doing her biddings. 
He heard that the girl was transferred to another school in a different state soon after when news broke out that she was selling drugs with her boyfriend to the students. 
Lucien would like to believe that the incident had nothing to with his sister, but he’s seen what she does for Renata whenever she lost her homework or to the English Literature teacher that had an issue with her. 
So Lucien needed to asks this. “Are you... are you going to hurt him?” His voice is soft and careful. 
Through the mirror, Renata eyed Sherrie in which his second sister leans into her chair and relaxes. “I won’t, don’t worry. After all, he’s not at fault.” 
Words are Sherrie’s favourite playthings and at that moment, Lucien hopes she means it. 
-
Funny enough, I’ve been calling S/N (Lucien) as Luciel because it means light and I HC that MC sees him as the unexpected light that Malleus gave her. Her daughters are a treasure but Lucien serve as MC’s light. It’s fate! 
So far for Lucien, my main reference for him are two people actually. Dead Master from Black Rock Shooter and Nisha Labyrinth from Elsword! 
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Will expand more on them as I continue to write. Also, I’m shit when it comes to timeline and ages so here’s my rough idea so far:
Renata = 16 years old (first-year student)
Sherrie = 15 years old
Lucien = 13 yeard old
I’ll change the kids’ age if Tri reveal them on their blog.  
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kagsluvr · 4 years ago
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HQ BOYS AND BACK RUBS
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; just them and the kind of back rubs/massages they give.
genre : fluff / some humor
tw/cw : back pain ?
a/n: my back was hurting so bad the other night and all i could think ab which hq boys would give the best massages, then boom ; i acc hate this sm but i wanted to post ahh ; not proofread once again :p </3 (hopefully no one’s done this before.. lmk if someone has!)
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1000/10. they know how to get the good spots without you having to tell them where. applies the perfect amount of force- not too soft, not too hard.
↳ kita, daichi, akaashi, sugawara
it’s 3 in the morning, and you’ve spent a few hours working on an important paper and your back begins to sting in pain due to the sleep deprivation and built-up stress. you attempt to alleviate the pain yourself by massaging the right side of your back with your left hand-- until your boyfriend walks in the room.
“hey babe, what’s wrong?” he asks while approaching the desk you’re sitting at. but before you’re about to complain to him about your aching back, you feel his warm hands place themselves in said area, beginning to dig in, kneading the stiffness of your back.
you’re too occupied enjoying the way your boyfriend works his hands to even say anything. indulged in their ‘magic touch’, your pain eventually goes away.
minutes later, he’s still thoroughly massaging you even when you can no longer feel any discomfort. you feel bad for letting your boyfriend continue on so you finally inform them that they can stop.
“hey babe, it’s all good now. my back doesn’t hurt anymore, thank you.” you say, turning to face them with a soft smile.
“oh, okay. that’s good.” he replies, but keeps on going with the intention of just making you feel at ease.
you contentedly sigh, turning back to face your computer, while allowing him to continue. you greatly appreciate the generous gesture and how attentive your boyfriend was.
“thank you babe, i love you.”
“i love you too.” he says before bending down and pecking your cheek with a warm kiss.
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they’re afraid that they’ll massage too hard and ‘crack your back’. they’re aware of their own strength and just are so fragile, never wanting to hurt you. :(
↳ ushijima, iwaizumi, bokuto, osamu
while your boyfriend is out at work, you spend the whole day anticipating an ample amount of packages to arrive in the mail. a few days prior, you ordered a bunch of furniture to fill up the bland emptiness of you and your boyfriend’s new place. he insisted that he would do all the heavy lifting and assembling once everything arrived, but you were too excited to wait until he got home later that evening.
it's barely noon and you already have 4 large boxes stacked up outside your main door. you take the time to carefully bring each of them in, all pretty heavy.
it’s a couple of hours later. sweat dripping down your face, huffing out heavy breaths, you’re completely worn out. but, it was all worth it. taking a few steps back to get a full view of your newly arranged living room. you smile in satisfaction, proud of all the heavy work that you had put in the past few hours. it was– until the soreness of your muscles kicked in. you wince at the sharp pain that spiked in your lower back and biceps every time you moved.
you make your way to the large couch and plop down, arms and legs widely spread. you close your eyes to calm yourself down for a moment, but then you hear the familiar sound of keys jingling outside the front door.
normally you’d run up to the door to greet your boyfriend after his long day at work, but for this occasion he walks in and is greeted by the sight of you sprawled out on the couch with heavy-lidded eyes and a weak grin.
“hey babe!” you softly shout as you tried to pick yourself up from your lying position.
but he notices your frail state and rushes over to help you up. “oh my god hey, what’s up with you? you okay?” he asks, full of concern. “oh wait, did all the packages come already? and did you set this all up by yourself?”
“yeah, i did! it looks great, huh?” you beamed. “...but yeah my back is incredibly sore right now.”
“it looks amazing babe, but didn’t I tell you to wait for me?” he replies as he quickly sits down and lightly pulls you towards him, sitting you on the edge of his lap and begins to massage.
you disregard his question due to the surprise of him attempting to ease your pain. “oh wow thanks, that feels really good, babe. maybe a lil harder?”
“oh, are you sure? i don’t wanna hurt you. you do look pretty exhausted and sore.”
“no it’s fine, i promise” you chucked. “you could never hurt me.”
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has no problem with massaging your back but hits you with “only if you massage mines after” smh.
↳ kenma, suna, kageyama, tsukishima
the entire day, your posture wasn’t the best which ultimately caused your back to ache when evening arrived. you’ve been hunched down, face inches away from your laptop; spending many hours on it trying to get some work done, but failing as you keep getting distracted by surfing the web every few minutes.
you could have completed your tasks a while ago, but procrastination got the best of you and now it was nearing 8 pm and you were still not done. and to make matters worse, your shoulder area started giving off a burning sensation. you mentally cursed yourself and immediately sat yourself up, back straight and leaned against the bed frame. you plopped your laptop on your lap and attempted to continue your work. the pain only grew worse in an area that made it hard for you to massage yourself, so you called out to your boyfriend.
he came in with a deadpan expression and muttered a “what do you want?”
you signaled over to your back, indicating that you wanted them to help reduce the pain.
“ugh, fine” they gave in. “only if you give me one in return.”
your jaw drops at the audacity they have to ask such a thing. “why? does your back hurt as well?”
“nah. it’s payback since i kept reminding you throughout the night to fix your posture because i had a strong feeling that your back would end up hurting…” he said with a cocky smirk, knowing he was 100% correct. “therefore, i get one in return.”
refusing to admit he was indeed correct, you bit your lip, suppressing back a flustered smile and scoffed, “it’s not like your posture isn’t always the best either...”
“mhmm, whatever” he said, rolling his eyes while approaching your side of the bed.
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taglist; @oikalove | send an ask to be added! <3
you’re sexy if you rb 🙏🙏
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unprofessional-bard · 4 years ago
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Chapter 11 - The Introduction
Losing My Religion Series Masterlist
Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist
Previous Chapter • Next Chapter
Pairing: Joel Miller x Female!Reader/OC
Warnings: Fluff, smut (just a good ol' handjob in a tub and implied smut) and a lil bit of angst/tense situations + uncomfortable talks/thoughts of pregnancy and trauma.
Summary: Unprepared for the consequences, the reader has to put up with two new arrivals, even though there's something off about them. Something more than just the shock of survival.
Word Count: 6.810
Author's Note: This chapter is set between April and July 2036, I apologise bc the reader is slowly turning into her own character, like Dolly's becoming an OC 😭 but yeah I love you all so much, thank you for reading my series 🥺💗
Enjoy!
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"Well, well, what have we here."
The trio halted in their tracks as your voice echoed in the stables, your flashlight shining on them.
"Hey, Dolly," Ellie turned around, dying inside. Beside her was Cat and Jesse, turning around with pursed lips. "What'cha doin'?"
"Oh not much- patrol, you know," You said nonchalantly, walking towards them with threatening steps as you did. "Making sure people don't sneak off in the middle of the night with the horses. Kinda like what you three are doing."
"We weren't sneaking off," Jesse chuckled, but the panic in his voice gave him away easily. "We're just here to... feed the horses?"
"They're being fed regularly, you know that, so cut the crap." You spoke sternly. "Where the hell are you all off to?"
"We were just-" Ellie took over. "We're meeting with Dina. Eugene is there with her."
"What for?" You inquired. "What does Eugene have to do with whatever it is you're planning?"
They were struggling to reveal the truth, but Ellie knew better than to lie. She knew that, as long as it was the truth you wouldn't get angry; it was your thing and Ellie had noticed it from the Boston QZ, so she gave a look to Cat, whom you suspected to be Ellie's girlfriend, and she spoke: "Eugene has weed."
"Ex-cuse me?" Your eyes widened with a long blink at the three words. You weren't against it or anything, but you were just shocked- How and where in hell did Eugene find weed?
"Yeah, shit- Uh, we'll head back," Jesse mumbled.
"No it's-" You quickly recovered and fixed your posture. "How?"
"We were going to find out," Cat offered an apologetic smile.
"Christ," You chuckled. "Oh, Eugene, Eugene..." You quickly look around, a devilish smirk spreading across your face. "You know what? Go."
"Are you serious?" Ellie asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. I'm not gonna rob you bunch from your teenage years," You chuckled. "Under one condition: I'll ride with you all."
"Oh, okay," Cat grinned excitedly and proceeded to climb on a horse, Jesse mirroring her actions after he offered his thanks.
"Okay," You pointed at the rifle you had in your hands after climbing on a horse. "Let's ride quick, I'm probably gonna get in a lot of trouble as it is, so..."
"Thanks, Dolly," Ellie spoke after she settled behind Cat.
If Eugene wasn't there, you wouldn't have let them out and would've proceed to fetch anyone who was already outside. You knew they could handle themselves, but you just didn't want anything to happen to them. It had just finished raining so it was extremely dark outside. After the quiet and fast ride, you saw them off into the partly wrecked building.
"If it's legit, we'll bring you some." Jesse smirked after the girls waved goodbye and walked in.
"Go on, get!" You chuckled and shooed at him, then began riding back the way you came while ignoring the offer, which was actually quite enticing.
It was near dawn when you heard a bunch of horses riding at full speed, nearing your position. The sky was turning a bright shade of blue, and you couldn't deny the beautiful scene in front of you. The air smelled of earth and remnants of rain from a few hours ago and there were the occasional chirping of birds and a squirrel here and there - the peace however was gone the moment the horses appeared. You immediately shot up from your place to see what was going on, shoulder aching a little whenever you gripped your rifle (the bullet which had teared its way into your flesh right before your showdown with Axel, although healed for the most part, still hurt).
You let out a relieved sigh when you recognised Ellie's red hair and Eugene's white ones, then you saw Dina and Jesse, but there were two other people you didn't know riding with them. You blinked a couple of times after you lowered your rifle, then shouted down to Cedric: "Open the gate!"
You made your way down and immediately went over to Eugene and the strangers, hand on your rifle just in case: "Hey, what's going on?"
"Cedric, take them to Kat, have her take a look at their wounds," Eugene instructed and he immediately obliged. After they disappeared and the kids went to put their horses in the stables, he spoke: "We were on our way back here when we heard shouting, found this couple fighting for their lives against a dozen infected in the woods. We took them down easily and offered them help afterwards... They're a bit freaked out, but they'll be okay."
"Okay, I'll let Ma-" You suddenly stopped, realisation dawning on you. "How the hell are we gonna tell Maria?"
Eugene looked deep in thought for half a minute, then spoke: "Tell her it was me and Dina. We were patrolling anyways-"
"What about the couple?"
"We'll ask them to say it was just the two of us, and to decrease the number of infected, problem solved. Relax, will ya?"
You nodded quickly, then walked off after telling him to alert the kids about the plan.
You stopped by the infirmary first. Daisy and a new medic, Angie, were tending to them and Cedric was standing guard while Kat wasn't present. You walked up to your patrol partner and tapped his shoulder: "You can go now, I'll take over from here."
"Sure," He shrugged, yawned, then waved goodbye. You slowly approached the beds the pair were sitting on, opposite each other, the grip on your rifle strong.
"How are you two holding up?" You said awkwardly, making them look between themselves before the woman spoke.
"We'll be okay... Thanks for helping us."
"Right- sure," You sighed quietly. "Could I ask for your names?"
The young woman looked at her partner once more, as if asking for permission, then looked back at you: "I'm Kiki... This is my husband Ward."
You nodded and offered a simple nice to meet you, but didn't give your name to them. Instead, you turned to Daisy: "Let me know when you're finished."
She nodded and proceeded with her stitches before you left the room. You weren't the one to judge people right off the bat, especially in the apocalypse. A lot of newcomers (including you) came here looking bewildered and drained because they were either almost eaten by a pack of infected or murdered by bandits, simple as that.
Ward was a brunette with a dark stubble, thicker than Joel's and had short, black hair. His nose was large but suited the rest of his face just fine, with big, dark brown eyes. A scar ran over the crook of his nose down his cheek and he looked hardened, just like everyone else. Kiki, on the other hand, was also a brunette, but her features weren't as sharp as Ward's, or she was just much younger than him. She had long, black hair and her eyes matched the colour; she was also smaller than Ward, with a petite figure. She was very beautiful, too and looked frightened rather than hardened.
Around ten minutes later, Daisy walked out: "Angie's finishing up, but I'm done. I'm heading over to check on other patients, if you need me I'll be there."
"Okay," You nodded and walked back inside. The couple was neatly patched up and sitting quietly, eyes wide. When you walked in, Kiki jumped, but relaxed the same moment she saw your face. "Must've been through a lot, you two..."
"You could say that-" Kiki murmured, then looked over to Ward, who didn't seem to take notice of he conversation. There was a gash on his chin and he was squeezing the hell out of the bed sheets as Angie worked on the wound. He didn't make a single sound, but the nurse looked a little distressed. "Do you-" Kiki abruptly asked. "Do you run things around here?"
"Uh- No," You turned your head towards her, your grip on your rifle never faltering once. "No, I'm sort of responsible for the security. The boss lady will be here soon."
"Lady?" Kiki looked genuinely confused.
"Yes." You offered a simple nod. "I'm gonna ask something of you both. Don't worry, it's something simple."
Ward immediately intervened before Kiki could open her mouth: "What?"
"Relax," You warned, keeping your eye on him. "Angie, could you give us a minute?"
"Of course, I'm done anyways," She practically threw the equipments onto the small table next to the bed, took off her latex gloves, tossed them into the trash and ran out.
You gave Ward a hardened look, then spoke, walking between their beds, keeping them in your vision: "When the boss comes here, she's going to ask you a few questions... I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about the kids' being there when they found you."
"Why?" Kiki asked, worried.
"Well, they weren't supposed to be outside- Except for the girl with long, black hair and the man who brought you here. It'd save us a lot of trouble if you didn't mention them."
"So, what, you expect us to lie?" Ward huffed.
"No." You spoke coldly, rivaling his hostile tone. "I'm simply asking you to leave out the part where there were 4 kids- There was just one. Besides, she may not even ask about it."
Your staring contest with Ward ended when, as if on cue, Maria, Tommy and Eugene entered the room. You saw the fright in Kiki's eyes, so you spoke calmly: "Hey, it's okay. That's her, the boss lady- and her husband."
"Boss lady?" Tommy chuckled and stood next to you, Maria and Eugene mirroring him.
"It's okay," Maria spoke: "We got this, you can go now."
You nodded once and reluctantly walked out from the room. Stepping outside the infirmary, you came across Cedric waiting by the entrance. You shook your head towards the gates with a simple: "Let's go."
Cedric was almost 15 years younger than you, had even younger features than someone would have in their 30s. He had chin length, dirty blonde hair with hazel eyes fleeing to green. He was a calm and collected person, unlike most people in Jackson. Your tactics and strategical thinking were similar, which made patrol much more effective and easy.
Both of your shifts ended around two hours later, when the sun was up completely and shining down on the streets, calling people to duty; it was, however, your call to hit the bed. After turning over your weapons and heading your separate ways with Cedric, you walked over to your house, a smile spreading across your face at the thought of seeing Joel.
You hadn't seen each other in almost three days due to different shifts but, with the weekend off, you could finally rest in your husband's arms.
You quietly entered the house and tiptoed up the stairs. The bedroom door was closed, he was obviously still asleep. Normally, he'd be awake by 7AM, but lately he'd been really hard on himself with patrols- it was only right he treated himself to a few extra hours of sleep. You really wanted to crawl next to him, or just take a small peak inside the room to see him, but you knew better. He awoke to the slightest creak of the bed when you got up, or simply turned to drink some water. You wanted him to rest though, that came first, so you used the bathroom outside your room to get cleaned up, then moved into the bathtub to treat yourself. It had been a while since you let your muscles rest and relax in the deliciously hot water.
Not even five minutes later after you settled in the warmth, you heard the slow opening of the door. You opened your eyes to find Joel with nothing but his boxer briefs on, heart beating with ecstasy and joy at seeing him in his sleepy state: "Hey," You giggled. "Morning handsome."
"Mornin' baby," He rubbed the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand.
"I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Would you believe me if I said no?" He smirked as he proceeded to take off his underwear.
"Probably not," You smiled apologetically, he'd quite possibly woken to the sound of the water filling. You extended both of your arms to him, calling him to your embrace while stretching and yawning: "Come here, I missed you."
The words made Joel stop in his tracks for a short moment, heart wearming at them, then walked over to the tub with his naked glory: "Scoot."
You simply leaned back and parted your legs, offering him to lay against you. He obliged, got in and sat, making the water level rise when he laid down against your chest. Your left arm rested on his chest, partly hugging him, while your right hand went through his hair. You gave him a kiss on his neck, a lovely kiss which made him sigh contentedly: "M-hm, I missed you too. Missed this..."
You wanted to stay like that forever: Caressing his hair and the occasional, soft kisses against his jaw, cheek and neck which made his heart melt. You could sense that this small gesture made him very happy, which in turn made you hug him tightly.
"What do you say we..." You purred into his ear. "Ditch the dinner plans for tonight, hm?"
His eyes were closed when he spoke: "Why? Got somethin' else in that pretty little mind of yours?"
"Yeah," You confirmed, running your hand up and down his chest. "We could do something, just the two of us."
"Like...?"
"Hmm, like movie night? Or you can play me something?"
"Only if you sing." He grinned.
"Nope, scratch that," You chuckled and shifted under him a little. "Or we can just... You know, fuck." He coughed out a laugh at your bluntness. "What? You don't want to?"
"I didn't say that," He turned a little and looked up into your eyes with a brilliant smile. "I'd love nothing more, actually, but these are Jesse's parents." You sighed, disappointed, saying I know, I know. "We have two days to ourselves, (Y/N)- You can have me all to yourself, except for a few hours."
"Fine," You growled jokingly, smiled and kissed his lips softly.
What was intended to be a simple kiss now slowly moved in the direction of a filthy make-out session, his tongue parting your lips with ease and meeting yours. Joel grabbed your calf and caressed it slowly, while you took advantage of his distraction and sneaked a hand down his abdomen.
You shifted a little more to the side and took his cock in hand, which made him sigh and drop his head on your shoulder: "(Y/N)..."
"Hmm?" You hummed with a smile when your thumb pressed on his slit, making him hiss and become harder. "Let me take care of you, huh?"
You watched Joel's brows drawing together when you slowly started to pump him. You kissed the pulse on his neck, then moved down to his collarbone. His grip on your leg was more solid the firmer you worked his length, and he jumped ever so slightly when you bit down on his collarbone. His erection grew bigger by the second all the while you sucked and bit a small hickey on his skin.
"Shit..." He shifted in the water, pulling himself upwards so that you didn't have trouble reaching for his shaft.
"You want me to go faster?" You whispered and kissed his shoulder. He nodded but didn't speak and let you work your magic.
You picked up pace, flicking your wrist and focusing on the underside of his head, making him groan broken, unclear profanities. After a while, you felt him tense under your touch, his breathing turning a little laboured.
"(Y/N)..." He sighed through gritted teeth, letting you have your way with him.
"That's it..." You cooed and continued kissing him. Soon, he let out a loud groan and came, making you moan quietly.
Seeing Joel like this -relaxed and euphoric- was always a treat, moments like this where it was just the two of you; no infected, no survival, no bullshit from tha past. You were aware of how it was a luxury to do the things you were able to do: Taking a hot bath, finding someone you loved and marrying them, sleeping on a bed with clean sheets without worrying if infected or bandits were going to jump you.
You were grateful, you were reminded of this everyday, but it took its toll on you, too.
A lot of people, innocent kids were out there, suffering- dying, surviving... You wished you had the power to help them all and rebuild, but you were aware of how dangerous it was out there. It was simply too risky to leave Jackson. You weren't some superhero, after all.
Not a hero...
"What's got you thinkin'?" Joel snapped you out of your thoughts, his fingers ever so gently tracing your cheekbone as you laid on the bed across each other. It was night-time, after dinner with Jesse and his parents and, of course, a round of much needed love making. You both were a little sleepy, definitely content with sweat covering your bodies like a thin layer of blanket.
You looked into his eyes from where your head was -which was on the crook of your elbow, resting on your pillow- and gave him a phantom of a smile, nodding slightly: "Nothing in particular. You?"
"You," He smiled, which made you chuckle. Convincing Joel that you were absolutely, 100% okay was getting trickier as he'd spent just enough time to sense a depressive episode's approach; you didn't want to burden him with your self-doubt and self-loathing, as you hated it when his mood shifted for the worse because of you. "Wonderin' what goes on in that head of yours."
"Wish I knew that myself," You grabbed his hand which was tracing the left side of your face, then turned the back of it for a kiss.
You knew, though. While you and Joel were helping with the dishes in the kitchen, Jesse's mother, Robin had asked if you were planning on having any children. The question you'd been dying to avoid had finally been asked, which made you drop the plate you had in your hand into the sink. It truly was an off-guard moment for you, which startled Joel, but luckily the topic was never brought up again after the plate in question shattered into pieces. You weren't sure if you wanted a child, not after the incident with Miles.
The moment when the contents of his skull splattering onto the ground while he was in your arms- under your supervision haunted you day and night. You never talked about it to anyone, and no one had asked, but it only intensified after your wedding. Because you knew what people had in their minds: Will we be seeing a Joel or Dolly Jr. running around?
You were fucking old, too, and so was Joel. Even if you didn't know whether you'd be able to carry due to that, there was no point in risking it either way, since I clearly suck at watching over kids.
"I think you do," He pushed himself closer to you and sneaked the hand against your mouth onto your waist, propping his arm up and putting his head against the palm of the other. "You just don't wanna talk about it. Which is okay, y'know." You nodded, smile growing a bit wider. "We've been over this before, but If you ever feel like- y'know... you're borin' me or something-"
"I know," You offered a full smile, pushing your thoughts away at the best of your ability. "I see you, Joel Miller," You then put a hand against his chest, where his heart should be: "I know you, you know me... You know what I think?"
He gave you a curious look, but it got replaced with something that hinted excitement when you ever so slowly pushed him on his back with the hand on his chest, then straddled his hips. Joel chuckled: "How is it that you still have this much energy after only four hours of sleep?"
The sleep in question took place after the 'mingling' in the bath. Warm April breeze, even warmer covers and warmest above all, Joel's body pressed against yours, both of your hairs wet and drying on their own as you slept in your lovers arms. He woke up after an hour or so, lingered there for awhile, just enjoying your presence by his side; he then quietly left you to sleep- lord knows you needed it.
"You're just getting old, baby," You giggled and leaned down to kiss him, his hands immediately going to your hips. "Not complaining, though."
An uneventful few weeks passed as Jackson entered the first week of June. Two losses in the town, but no new arrivals after Katie- Kiki and Ward. No raids as well, so overall it was calm.
After reporting in about the week in general, one evening, Maria asked you to stay behind: "It's time for Ward and Katie to go through the test," She declared. "We gotta see if they're fit for patrol or not."
"You got it. When?"
"Tomorrow. I already notified them, we'll meet at the northern training post-"
"We who?" You ran a hand through your hair.
"You and me. Robert and Eugene were supposed to be there originally, but they'll be off hunting." She explained and you nodded. Without further ado, you walked out and made your way back home.
The next morning, Joel accompanied you to the training post. Normally it was your day off with him, but training awaited. The weather was particularly hot for an early morning, so it came to you as a little shock when you saw Kiki, who was wearing a rather thick looking blouse. You didn't question it of course, but it made you think.
"Alright," You cleared your throat, after a quick greeting, stepping into the open training area. Joel and Maria remained inside, arranging the medical needs list while keeping an eye on you three. "I'm gonna put you two through a little test. Maria tells me you decided to stay here in Jackson, so we need to decide which duties you're fit for."
Ward remained incredibly still while Kiki nodded. Her hands were resting between her knees, while Ward had his arms crossed. They were sitting on a bench under the shade: "It's going to get a little physical, but I assure you I'm not going to hurt either of you." You turned around and walked over to the middle of the area: "Right, let's start with you, Kiki."
She gave a panicked look to Ward, but he just nodded with a thoughtful frown, rather than a permitting glare. Over the weeks they had been in Jackson, people sort of got used to their non-verbal interactions, even though some people found it suspicious. She got up and made her way over to you and, by the look on her face, regretted her outfit of choice as she tried to loosen the collar.
"If you want to stop- at any moment, let me know," You reassured her. She nodded, went to roll her sleeves up, but stopped immediately. You acted like you didn't see it, then proceeded to get in stance and lift your hands up: "Okay, let's start with something simple. Show me your stance."
She gave you a blank stare: "My what?"
"Your... stance, you know, fighting stance?"
"I don't have one," She simply shrugged.
"Okay," You sighed quietly. "Then show me how you punch."
She threw what could've been a proper punch but it was weak, you immediately caught her fist in your palm. She panicked and pulled back, and you immediately let go. You glanced at Ward, who seemed to be on high alert.
"Again," You got into stance and she obliged, throwing another weak punch your way. Her stance was there, actually, and her punches came through like she knew what she was doing, but the impact wasn't effective.
It went on a couple more punches, which you caught in your hand each time, until she spoke: "Why do you do that?"
"What?" You lowered your hands.
"You keep holding my hands," It was as if she was more annoyed than confused. "Can you not do that?"
"It's a reflex-" You explained, glanced at Ward again, then looked back at her. "I do it with everyone I train, but if you don't want me to then it's fine."
Not everyone, only the ones with punches as slow, weak and predictable as hers.
"Okay, now let's try some... combos," You added and got in a more secure stance. "Throw one punch after another. Fast and hard. Don't hold back."
"I'm not holding back," She grunted and did a typical boxing combo, which, generally, only people trained in boxing knew- but her punches were still weak. You remained quiet and let her go at it for a few rounds.
You suddenly took a step back, raised your hand up to the same level as your face and spoke: "Kick."
Instead, she went to kick you between your legs. A rush of panic and years of reflexes kicked in and you caught her feet between your knees. You looked up with a what the fuck was that? expression on your face and waved your hand in the air: "I meant here."
"We're fighting, right? We need to be unpredictable," She said with a tone of... irritation? Was she snickering?
"Do I look like a bandit to you?" You let go of her leg, giving her a displeased look.
"You did say you wanted to see what we were capable of."
Where was this sudden confidence coming from all of a sudden?
She was always a little weird with you. Not that you saw her too often but the moments when you two were together, one minute she'd look like she wanted to be your friend (which was when Joel was around), other times she'd remind you of a cruel, rank-wise superior back in the Boston QZ (which was when Joel wasn't around).
You gave her a hard look: "Alright. Let's see how you're gonna do when someone's actually fighting you, then."
Her expression went from somewhat cocky to seriousness as you took a few steps foward and towered over her. Your instructions were simple and clear when you spoke: "I'm gonna put you in a lock. Wriggle out of it."
You slowly grabbed her wrist, giving her time to get ready and process what you were doing. Then, you twisted her arm carefully around her waist and turned her around, pressing her arm on her back, only for her to suddenly squeal: "Okay! Enough!"
You quickly took a step back, startled at her reaction, you weren't even applying the slightest pressure. Ward suddenly shot up from where he was sitting and yelled: "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything!" You frowned.
"It's okay!" Kiki suddenly stepped in front of Ward who was advancing your way. "I panicked, she didn't-"
"Woah there," You suddenly heard Joel and Maria approach the field. Confusion was superior to your anger at that moment: Had you really hurt her?
"Calm down," Maria put her hands on her hips. "She specifically warned you that she wouldn't hurt you under any circumstances. Relax."
You gave Maria a grateful look as he defended you: "I didn't even apply pressure- Look, no one's here to hurt you on purpose."
Ward and Kiki stared into each other's eyes, and by all means it was not a romantic moment, then the bigger of the two finally groaned: "I think she's had enough. For today."
"You think?" You unintentionally slipped it out, but the companions by your side seemed to agree with what you were getting at. "Do you want to stop Kiki?"
"Um," She looked at the three of you, chewing on her bottom lip, then answered quietly after a tense moment of silence: "Yeah, I think I should stop."
"Fine," You said, trying to keep your voice as netural as possible. "Let's continue with you then, Ward." Before anyone could say anything, you and the man you challenged found yourselves back on the middle of the combat area. "Show me your stance and let's begin."
He did as you asked but didn't wait for you to size him up, throwing a punch into your palm as soon as you lifted it, startling your audience. That didn't stop either of you from starting off with a much quicker and a harsher routine, which seemed to have everyone on edge.
You didn't counter once, but it was as if he was forcing you out of the defensive with his strikes, not to mention he was forcing you to step out of the area.
"What the hell's goin' on?" Tommy half jogged over to where the three were standing, watching you two roll from a snowball into an avalanche. Ward was grunting with each hit missed, anger taking over his features, while you kept your cool. It was as if he was riling himself up because he couldn't land a punch - his aim was messy and unstable, which was nothing compared to your years of disciplinary training.
"Okay, I think you've proved your point, Ward." Maria spoke loudly after Tommy's sudden entrance, but he didn't seem to hear her.
"I agree," You grunted and dodged a rather heavy looking punch, rolled over behind him and got up immediately; before you could say anything else, thinking he had stopped, you momentarily let your guard down. Everybody seemed to have thought the same, but what none of you saw coming was the exceptionally hard blow on your nose.
"What the fuck?!" You heard someone, weren't sure who, yell as you saw a blur of people rushing toward you when you stumbled backwards, hands wrapping around your possibly broken nose with a brief shout.
Giving into your anger, before anyone can get a grip of what you were doing, you launched yourself at Ward: "Son of a-" You grabbed the collar of his shirt and headbutted him: "Bitch!"
It was beyond everyone just how fast you had moved, broke his nose with an equally strong strike and had him falling on his arse. Kiki rushed to his husband's side, Maria to yours while Tommy kept Joel from ripping Ward to shreds. You were sure you were going to pass out when Maria got a hold of you, feeling as if you were under water with the blurring of your vision and hearing. The adrenaline rush in your veins kept you from losing consciousness, though.
"(Y/N)?" Maria's voice got clearer each passing second as you chased the lingering faint away from your mind, finally opening your eyes completely to see a displeased face. "(Y/N) are you okay?"
"Yeah," You sighed, whipping your hands in the air around your waist to shake off the droplets of blood from your bleeding nose as best as you could, tears at the corners of your eyes. "Just fine and dandy."
You felt the familiar, calloused hands of Joel gently hold your elbows as Maria turned around to see to Ward: "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Joel," You nodded and wiped the blood on your white t-shirt in a pissed, exhausted manner.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" You heard Maria growl at Ward, who was still shaken and sitting on the ground, face looking about the same as yours. "You can't just come up and punch people because you got angry at them! This is Jackson: You're not outside, and she isn't your enemy."
"It's okay- I'm sorry Maria- He's a little, uh," Kiki whined on her knees where she had knelt, but went quiet when he looked behind her to see you and Joel.
"You're not his mother, Katie," The blonde spoke, more calm now but no less strict. "He can speak for himself, and the same goes for you."
There was an intense moment between the three, while Tommy nodded at what Maria had said, his hands on his hips, looking at them disapprovingly: "Alright, c'mon, let's get you to a doc."
Joel in the meanwhile, like a mother duck, studied your nose and held a piece of cloth against the bleeding. He kept you focused on him while Maria and Tommy handled the other couple: "Fuckin' bastard..."
You chuckled at the way he grumbled as he wiped the blood off your nose gently: "Got what he was asking for though, don't go around wanting to kick his ass."
"Yeah, that was a pretty damn good hit..." He spoke, but his voice faded into the background when you curiously looked over to see what was going on, only to come across Kiki's face first things first. What you saw on her face sent a shiver down your spine.
Anger.
Not because you hurt Ward though, no. It was more than that.
It was jealousy.
You knew both because you had spent enough time with her to understand what that look meant, and her expression wasn't hard: It was soft, a certain yearning spread across her features as her eyes went back and forth between you and Joel. You couldn't tell what irked you the most: The way she looked at you, or him. You seemed to add more to her anger, while when she stared at your husband (and stared at him longer), there was longing and confusion.
The moment you made eye contact, she immediately turned around and scurried off, leaving you two and Maria alone.
"Hm? Dolly?" You heard Joel again once you brushed off the odd stare you got from Kiki.
"What?" You gave him a puzzled look.
"I asked if you wanted to have this looked at," He repeated in a soft voice. Most of the time, with small scratches or wounds which didn't need stitches or weren't cut too deep to get an infection or anything, you preferred handling it on your own to not waste the town's medical supplies.
"No, I got it," You nodded quickly and took a step back, feeling your nose while Maria approached you both.
"What the hell was that, (Y/N)?" She had her hands on her hips as well.
"I don't know, Maria," You emphasised each word, making your discomfort and irritation show. "...I have a few ideas though."
You moved inside, away from the burning sun and began discussing your first impression.
"So, what do you think?" Maria asked from behind her desk. Two pairs of eyes watched you quietly as you sat up on your chair, still holding the cloth up to your nose.
"Well, they're definitely not military, I can tell you that much. They don't know the first thing about combat - Kiki doesn't, anyway." Something's not right with them, you wanted to say, but decided to keep it to yourself for the time being and continued: "She's weak, can't even throw a punch. Almost lost her shit when I put her into that lock- I couldn't even put her into the lock, she just screamed."
"Yeah, what was up with that?" Maria asked but didn't demand an answer, it was more like a rhetorical question. You explained how she also went out of the training routine and tried to kick you, but again, it was weak.
"It's actually not that she's weak, but more like she's holding back," You said thoughtfully after a moment of silence.
"How do you mean?" Joel spoke for the first time.
"I mean, you can feel that she's holding back on purpose." Much as you hated your years in FEDRA, your experience with training and being trained came in handy on a daily basis - as much as you hated it, you were also grateful. "While Ward, on the other hand," You shifted in your seat, annoyed, "Fights like a feral beast, and I can tell that wasn't his full potential."
Joel growled quietly and crossed his arms. You then continued with your observation: "I don't want to be too quick on my judgement, but there's something not right with them."
Tommy walked in at that moment: "Well, that was a shit show."
"What happened?"
"They argued the whole way," Tommy sighed and pulled a chair between you and Joel, then sat exactly the same way his brother was sitting. "It was... weird is one way to put it."
"Let's keep them under supervision for awhile," You offered.
"You're volunteering?" Maria raised a brow.
"Hell no, not after that anyway. My existence would just antagonise them."
"What are you suggestin'?" Tommy turned to you.
"Put them through another training session with Walt, he'll know what I'm talking about... And Eugene found them, so maybe he'll be up for the task."
A moment of quiet and glances were exchanged among the family, then Maria cleared her throat: "Fine, we'll see what the other's think of that and vote for it."
"Okay. Now if you'll excuse me..." You murmured and got up, walking out of the room absentmindedly, deep in thought. A headache settled to the front of your head and you felt fatigue take over as soon as you stepped outside, while you left the other Millers confused.
"Hey," You heard Joel's soft voice from behind you not much later, which made you stop in your place and turn around. You gave him a blank stare, the cloth holding hand dropping to your side to reveal the smeared, dried blood around your nose. Without any rush, he walked over to you with a worried look and stood right in front of you.
After gazing into each other's eyes fro a while, Joel no doubt searching yours to understand what was going on and you just finding comfort in his, he slowly took your empty hand in his. With a soft tilt of his head in the direction of your house, you blinked once in acknowledgement and started walking with him.
Your anger and irritation started dissipating the more you walked like that, hand in hand and in silence, but your headache and slowly worsening mood, the taste of blood on your tongue remained. Not many words needed to be said with Joel, he knew what you needed by just one look. You were sure if Kurt saw you like that, he would laugh until his lungs couldn't take it: Look at you! Although the thought made your heart warm, it wasn't enough to lift the corners of your lips. You unconsciously held onto Joel's hand tighter as you walked to your house, and he returned the gesture, a simple gesture- an assurance that let you know he had you.
Once you stepped inside and he closed the door while you stood in the hallway, he walked up to you and held your shoulders and gave you a soft, still concerned look. You looked up at him with a soft sigh through your nose some seconds later, and finally spoke: "I'm gonna... I'm gonna go lay down a little."
"Okay," Joel gave you a reassuring smile and placed a kiss on your forehead. "You let me know if you need anything."
"Of course," You smiled back, a lifeless, small but an equally reassuring smile. Joel watched you climb up the stairs slowly, thinking about how long it would take you to feel better while also thinking of how he could make you feel at ease during the time.
His fears were similar to yours: He didn't want you to feel responsible or upset because of his own self-doubt and self-loathing, and he hated having you show all the effort to make him feel better about himself, about the things he had done. You kept assuring him that that was what being partners was all about, that you do what you do for him gladly and would continue doing it for as long as you were able (which meant as long as you were alive). He was glad to have you by his side, but of course didn't rely on you as if you were a rehabilitation centre, and it went both ways.
While thinking about all of this, with a cup of coffee in hand and sitting on his porch, his ears perked up at the round of laughter coming from behind the house. It was then, when he came up with a plan to make you feel better, even in the slightest.
Ellie.
—————
tags: @spideysimpossiblegirl
120 notes · View notes
hqbbg · 4 years ago
Text
dense.
pairing: iwaizumi x reader
summary: you’re dense and iwaizumi is stubborn.
genre: fluff
word count: 2.0K
warnings: language
author’s note: idk why but i've been simping for this mans all week (actually nvm i do know why,, like who wouldn’t) but also it’s late at night and idk what this is but pls accept and enjoy it 👉🏼👈🏼👉🏼👈🏼
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Your mother had always told you it was rude to stare and throughout your childhood, you did your best to avoid getting scolded at for staring at random people. However, while sitting at a café in an attempt to study, you can’t help but shift your focus from the notes in front of you to the boy sitting a few tables away, chewing on the eraser of his pencil as he leans over his notebook, looking deep in thought. You have your cheek pressed against your left palm, your elbow propped up on the table and your pencil not even in your hand anymore as you shamelessly stare at the stranger.
He’s sitting in your direct line of sight ahead of you and you’re sure that you’re also in his, but he has yet to notice or acknowledge you. He looks smart—or at least is trying to be—as he releases the end of his pencil from his teeth to scribble something down onto his notebook.
His eyes flicker up in your direction and you quickly avert your eyes back down to your notebook but keep your head in the same angle in order to avoid looking suspicious. You pretend to be deep in thought for a moment before your eyes make their way back to look at the handsome stranger in front of you, his own attention devoted to whatever it is he’s studying.
You’re not even sure how much time has passed before you feel someone flick the back of your head, causing you to wince and angrily turn to see the person responsible for the subtle throbbing you feel now.
“Ow, that hurt, Iwaizumi,” you frown as you rub the back of your head.
Iwaizumi rolls his eyes as he sits down across from you, effectively blocking the view. He places your coffee down in front of you and takes a sip of his own, raising a brow as he looks at your notes.
“You’ve barely made any progress.”
“I was taking a study break,” you reply as you drop your hand from your head.
“Study break my ass,” he scoffs. “You’ve been staring at that guy since I left to go stand in line for your coffee—you’re welcome, by the way.”
“Thanks,” you mutter as you lift the cup to your face and inhale the fragrant smell of coffee, taking a sip shortly after. “Also, can you blame me? He’s really cute.”
Iwaizumi looks at you and you swear that you see his eye twitch slightly.
“Your exam score is not going to be cute if you don’t focus now, you know,” he says as he sets his cup down, leaning back in his seat as he crosses his arms across his chest.
“I know,” you sigh as you pick your pencil back up. “I can’t focus, though.”
“We’ve been here for half an hour. Have you even tried?” Iwaizumi raises an unimpressed brow.
“Of course I have,” you huff indignantly. “It only took me ten minutes to get all my stuff out and then five more minutes to use the bathroom. I tried to study for at least five more minutes before I got distracted.”
“Well, now that I’m here, you shouldn’t have any distractions,” says Iwaizumi as his lips quirk up into the slightest smirk. You sigh dramatically but know that there’s nothing you can do.
His method of forcing you to at least try to study is affective for some time, but the content of your notes is utterly dry and quite frankly, you’re bored.
“You didn’t have to come today,” you say casually. You’ve been searching for an excuse to not study for the past few minutes, and this seems to be the only thing you can come up with.
Iwaizumi looks up from his phone for a moment before looking back down, his thumb scrolling through whatever app he’s on.
“Who else is supposed to keep you focused? Plus, it’s not like I had anything better to do today.”
You blink a couple times at him but say nothing.
Iwaizumi has slowly and steadily been spending more time with you lately, keeping you company practically anywhere and everywhere you went. You didn’t mind necessarily, since you two get along aside from the occasional bullying you both inflict upon each other which is all in good fun. Plus, he’s pretty easy on the eyes, so you have no complaints there.
You’d known him for quite some time now but can’t remember when exactly you two had become friends. You remember seeing him when you were both in high school, with you as a faithful supporter of your school’s boys’ volleyball team while he was part of the opposing school’s team, practically glued to his much more popular friend—what was his name? It started with an O…—and was always overshadowed by him. You didn’t see him much again until you came to college and recognized him in one of your classes. Over time, you seemed to naturally gravitate towards each other and have gotten to where you are now a whole year later.
“I really can’t focus,” you huff as you set your pencil down, leaning back into your seat with a slouch. If your mother saw you right now, she would probably scold you for your posture.
“We’ve been here for barely an entire hour,” says Iwaizumi, looking up from his phone again.
“It’s just one of those days, you know? Maybe I can try studying later tonight or something, but bottom line is that I can’t be productive right now.”
“Fine. What do you want to do instead?” Iwaizumi puts his phone down and looks plainly at you.
“I didn’t think I’d get this far,” you say to yourself, but loud enough for him to hear. “Well, I guess for starters, can you scoot over to the side a little?”
“No,” Iwaizumi says without missing a beat.
“Aw, come on,” you whine. You know it’s childish and are very aware that it bothers Iwaizumi when you’re like this, so you do it a little more to egg him on. “If the situation was switched and a pretty girl was behind me, I’d gladly move to the side for you!”
“If you want to look at some guy so bad, just look at me.”
You want to protest but a different idea comes to mind.
“Fine,” you say and lean forward to prop both elbows onto the table in front of you, cupping your own face as you stare at him.
Iwaizumi looks at you questioningly, his eyebrows furrowed but you notice the slightest tint in his face to betray the unimpressed expression on his face.
“You look like a dumbass,” he says, not looking you in the eye as you blink innocently at him.
“You know, after all this time, I think I just realized your eyes are kinda green,” you say, ignoring his statement.
“How long are you going to keep this up?” Iwaizumi also doesn’t seem to have a problem ignoring your statements.
“Keep what up?” You can’t help but smile smugly at him.
Iwaizumi inhales deeply before he also leans forward to mirror your position, his face dangerously close to yours. You never realized how small the table between the two of you was and now it’s your turn to blush.
“I can sit here all day like this if you want,” he teases, a confident smirk plastered on his face. He still can’t meet your eyes for too long before he has to look away, but you don’t mind because suddenly, you are also having trouble maintaining eye contact with him.
“Maybe not all day,” you say, doing your best to not look fazed by any of this. You’re also feeling very aware of how the two of you must look to other onlookers and can’t help but feel the embarrassment heat your face up even more.
“You can always give up first,” he taunts, maintaining his smirk.
You internally curse his stubborn resolve and the fact that you are able to match it, refusing to give up first.
“The more I look at them, the prettier your eyes seem to be,” you decide to use a different approach in getting him to give up first.
“That’s not going to work on me,” Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, shaking his head slightly.
“Wow, do people just tell you that all the time then? Must be nice.”
“I’m surprised it took you this long to notice,” he retorts.
“Clearly, I’m not the most observant person in the world,” you push your lower lip out just the slightest bit to form a small pout. The flicker of his eyes to your lips does not escape you.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he says. “Something can be painfully obvious and in front of you and you still wouldn’t notice because you’re just that dense.”
“Pfft, notice something like what?” You frown, furrowing your eyebrows. Sure, sometimes you were a little clueless, but you didn’t go as far as to consider yourself dense.
“Like a test or quiz answer—”
“Lame. Everyone misses things like that from time to time,” you scoff.
“—or if someone likes you.”
“Well, someone has to like me in order for me to notice that kind of stuff,” you retort back.
“You’re literally not seeing it right now and it’s right in front of you,” Iwaizumi frowns, unable to look you in the eye.
You feel like you’re catching onto what he’s saying now but decide once more to give him a hard time just to confirm your thoughts.
“Wait, do you think the guy behind you is into me then?”
You see the irritation on Iwaizumi’s face and do your best to not laugh.
“Forget I even said anything,” he scowls as his eyes fix onto something behind you.
“If I’m dense, then maybe you can just enlighten me,” you say, your eyes searching his face for any signs that he might be upset with you, just in case. He just seems a little dejected.
“There’s no point,” Iwaizumi sighs. “Maybe the guy behind me can tell you for me.”
“Wait, I was just teasing you,” you pout your lips slightly again leaning to the side to get into his view. You hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings or anything. “Just tell me.”
“I’m not good at this stuff,” he grumbles as he looks away from you again.
“You can tell me anything, Iwaizumi,” you say, removing one hand from your face to reach over and poke his arm. Sometimes you forget how toned and solid his arms are.
“You’re just giving me a hard time now, aren’t you?” Iwaizumi looks at you skeptically and you can’t resist the small grin on your face. “You’re a crappy person, you know that?”
“Aw, don’t be like that,” you whine, your grin leaving your lips as quickly as it came. “You still haven’t told me.”
“Should I spell it out for you?”
“If that’s the method you choose, I won’t stop you,” you shrug as you bring your hand back to cup your face. Iwaizumi gives you a look, unamused.
“I like you.”
Your hunch is confirmed but hearing it out loud from him makes you feel different.
“Can you say that again?”
“No,” Iwaizumi frowns as he relents, dropping his arms and leaning back, looking away from you. You can see his cheeks and ears are reddening by the second and can’t resist the smile on your face.
“I guess I am pretty dense when it comes to that stuff,” you say as you also drop your arms and sit up straight. “On a serious note, can I have some time to process that?”
“Sure,” Iwaizumi nods as he grabs his coffee cup, getting ready to stand. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Where are you going?” You look at him with curious eyes.
“Do you not want me to leave you alone?”
“No,” you shake your head. “If anything, can you just tell me again? I want to make sure I heard you right the first time.”
“You really are a crappy person,” Iwaizumi says, but you can see the small smile on his lips. “You would’ve gotten along well with my friend Oikawa.”
“Ah! That’s his name!”
687 notes · View notes
mrs-han · 4 years ago
Text
Forever
@mrs-mc-han: Hiiiiii! Can I please please please request an MC who is super loud an extroverted! She doesn’t mean to or really even notice. she tends to yell when excited and use a lot of hand motions and laugh loudly. and she was never aware of it until she heard one of Jumin’s employees gossiping in the bathroom at C&R and goes to Jumin in tear apologizing for making him seem unprofessional. If you do this I will be so happy🥺🥺I love your work! Thank you💕
~~~
Gurrrl! I went through three different drafts because none of them felt right! But I finally settled on one! Here we go!
~~~
"Ow!! Don't -!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Jumin carefully sat you up, his hand on your lower back. "I added too much pressure this time... I'm sorry, darling."
"No, don't apologize, Jumy... it's so nice of you to help me to begin with," you smiled forcibly, gripping his hand.
"It wounds me to see you in so much pain," Jumin sighed, his fingers lightly trailing over your shoulder blades. "How long do you need to rest?"
"Six weeks," you moaned, turning and burying your sulky face against Jumin's neck. "Which is impossible, by the way. What am I supposed to do for six weeks!"
"Rest, obviously," Jumin jested, poking your cheek.
"... Rest, obviously," you imitated. "I mean! What else am I gonna do? Huh? What, I can't do anything except rest?"
"Calm down," Jumin cooed, winding his arms around you. "I'll tell you what. How do you feel about coming to work with me, hm? It's remote, quiet, and you can stay in my office."
"And do nothing?" You pouted.
"I have plenty of board and card games that will keep you busy. Or, you can bring your tablet and play the games you have on there. What do you say?"
"That sounds like... a reason for you to spy on me," you smirked.
Jumin batted his eyelashes. "So what if it is?"
"That sounds like a plan," you giggled, kissing his cheek. "To coming with you to the office, not to the spying."
"Drats," Jumin said stoically, lifting you from the couch and placing you on the bed. "Did you take your medication, love?"
"I did," you blushed, realizing for the millionth time how lucky you were to be reminded. "Come here, hubby. Cuddle close."
~~~
The height of C&R's structure never failed to frighten you. You stood dumbfounded as Jumin gathered your things and grabbed your hand.
"Are you all right?" He smiled, tightening his hold.
"Did you guys expand somehow? The building looks ten times larger than when I was here last!" You smiled, throwing your arm out and flinching shortly after. "Ow! Ow..."
"Be careful," Jumin uttered, rubbing your back. "The building hasn't gotten any bigger... it seems my proposal for cat tree extension has been denied."
"You made a proposal for a cat tree extension?!" You laughed.
"Oh, look. I'm going to be late. Let's go," Jumin mumbled hastily, leading you delicately to the inside of the building.
The sights and the interior sounds were more or less the same since you had last visited. Hurried footsteps and the sound of passes that approved access mixed with the familiar smell of citrus - your senses were overtaken and overwhelmed.
"Why do you look so shocked? You were here just last week," Jumin chuckled, easing you past the security booths.
Before you could respond, you heard a familiar pair of heels making a beeline towards you. You turned and glowed as Jaehee, folders in hand, stopped and bowed towards Jumin.
"Mr. Han -"
"Jaehee!!"
She straightened and smiled as you crashed against her, hugging her. She tucked her folder under her arm and gave you a reassuring pat. "How have you been, MC? All Mr. Han talks about is how you injured your back."
"Even during meetings?! Jumin, shame on you!"
Jumin turned his head, hiding his flushed expression.
"Don't be too hard on him. It's a rarity to see how much he cares for someone other than his cat," Jaehee quipped under her breath.
"We're going," Jumin blurted, grabbing your arm and leading you to one of the many elevators.
"Yes, Mr. Han," Jaehee said quickly, fixing her glasses and her posture.
~~~
"What happened to your office?!" You shouted.
Jumin pursed his lips and blinked quickly. "I felt the need to redecorate."
You rushed into the office and threw your arms open. "Jumin, there are pictures of me everywhere!! OW!!"
"Don't strain yourself by yelling, darling."
Jaehee quickly closed Jumin's office door behind her. "Forgive my sudden intrusion towards this heartwarming conversation, but Mr. Han?"
"Ah, yes. The meeting."
"Jumin, you are -"
"Silly? Adorable? Quite the catch?" Jumin crooned, massaging your back.
You faltered and wrapped your arms firmly around him, giggling as he peppered kisses to your face.
Jumin hummed gently, his fingers curling over and into your hair. "I'll be back, my love. And when I come back, I'll give you the massage you deserve. Don't miss me too much."
"Impossible. I miss you already if only you knew -"
"Mr. Han," Jaehee spoke more pointedly.
"All right, all right." Jumin sighed, the stars in his eyes now replaced by businesslike determination.
"Be strong, my brave man," you grinned.
Jumin grabbed your hand, planted a firm kiss on your palm, and turned quickly, lest Jaehee fire another warning. You closed the door and bit hard at your lip as you observed Jumin's gallery.
Photos of you sleeping, smiling, holding Elizabeth the Third - even pictures of the highly publicized wedding day - were scattered with the finesse Jumin naturally possessed.
"I love you so much, you silly man," you said under your breath, running your fingers over his desk and finally settling yourself on his seat.
You managed to keep yourself busy for half an hour, drawing hearts on Jumin's notepad and playing a round or two of virtual Uno. Boredom was a hell of a demon, so you figured there was no harm in walking around.
Opening the door to his office, you peeked your head through and slid out. You were greeted with polite smiles and inclined heads as you walked through the floor, making you feel... oddly uncomfortable. No doubt, everyone was polite to you because they knew who you were - if you were to make one complaint, Jumin would take immediate action.
But you pushed your suspicions of trivial matters aside and smiled widely towards the ostensibly friendly employees.
Your brows furrowed, and your shoulders tensed the longer you were outside of Jumin's office. You understood what Jumin meant; that feeling of suffocation seemed to hover over your person and only caused more stress to your back as you unconsciously hunched.
You traveled to the café, desirous for some breathing air - there had to be some sense of normalcy where people ate. Still, heads turned as soon as your footfalls could be heard, and more disturbingly flashy smiles were shined your way.
Cramped and in agony, you retreated quickly to the nearest restroom, rubbed your neck, and yanked your phone out.
Hey, honey! Are you almost done?
Jumin usually answered you immediately, but his response still hadn't come your way. Pushing a stall door open, you slumped into the toilet seat and continued to try to work the knot on your back.
"Jumin, shame on you ~!"
Laughter reverberated through the restroom, and you froze in place.
"She's so tacky!"
"And so loud. Could you hear her from accounting?"
"Yes! No offense to Mr. Han, but the least he can do is put her in her place."
"Ha, no offense to Mr. Han, but he chose poorly. My daughter would be a much better candidate."
"Isn't your daughter twelve?"
"Well, Mr. Han does seem to go after those with a... childlike... disposition!"
Earsplitting laughter echoed through the room, through your ears. You pulled your knees to your chest and brought your hand to your mouth to muffle any outbursts of emotion.
"Considering how serious he is, you would assume! That he would choose a practical, serious woman!"
"Where is she from, again?"
"America, from how she behaves."
"That explains the lack of discipline."
You closed your eyes.
"How long would you give them?"
"Six months."
"Ji-Yu! That is far too generous! I give them! Three months!"
"Ladies, ladies. She can't live in a world as glamorous as Mr. Han's. They will divorce as quickly as they met. A country bumpkin will always return to the landfill they came from."
"Are we still on for dinner tonight?"
"Are you paying?"
Another bought of laughter resounded... then, silence. You stood slowly, legs shaking and back aching more than it had that morning.
You went from wanting full transparency to wanting the false reassurance of superficiality.
"So stupid," you murmured.
~~~
"What's next on the agenda," Jumin demanded as he walked straight to his office.
"A meeting at 1430 with Amorepacific," Jaehee answered, easily keeping pace with her boss.
Jumin slid his sleeve up, checking his watch. "Good, I have time to eat lunch with my wife."
"Enjoy your time with her, Mr. Han, but please be in Boardroom D ten minutes before the meeting."
"Yes, yes, fine." Jumin pushed the door open and was greeted by your swollen red eyes and dripping nose.
"Welcome back," you sniffed, forcing a smile.
Jumin's nonchalant expression immediately shifted to one of anxiety. His brows creased, his eyes grew, and he flew to your side. "Darling, what... why are you crying?"
Your voice quivered. "Can I go home?"
"Talk to me," Jumin urged, grabbing your hands. "Is your back hurting you? Did anyone try to come in?"
"No, no... I just... I want to go home," you cried, pulling your hands from Jumin's and covering your face.
"All right... all right, darling," Jumin cooed, grabbing his phone from his back pocket. "I'm calling Driver Kim right now -"
"No," You blurted. "I want to go home. Where I came from."
Jumin paused... then quickly snapped into action, carefully grabbing your chin. "Speak to me. Darling? Why are you saying these things."
"Who am I kidding, Jumin? I can't... I'm not cut out for this life. I'm not cut out for you, you...! You deserve way better than me. You need a woman who's mature, demure, graceful... that isn't me, and you'd be much better off if -"
"Stop," Jumin boomed.
"You just told me to talk to you!" you babbled.
Jumin's anxious eyes eased. "Is that what this is about?"
You closed your eyes. "I heard a gaggle of women talking while I was hiding in the bathroom... Jumin, they're right."
"Are they?" Jumin asked.
"Well... yeah, I mean... they even attacked you, saying how interested you were in childlike women..."
Jumin wiped your tears with his thumbs. "Mmhm. Complete strangers weighing in on the depth of our relationship... it never occurred to me that I should take their opinions to heart."
You hiccupped. "All I'm saying, Jumin, is... I didn't realize how ridiculous I made you look... I didn't consider it."
"What is there to consider?" Jumin asked gently. "You would rather take their words to heart over how happy you make me when you smile? How fast you make my heart beat when I see how eager you are to explore different things? How, in a sea of millions, your eyes are the only ones I will ever look for?"
Your lip quivered.
"Others will have our opinions of us, but you will always be my wife. No matter what is said, I will always come to you. I want you to realize this, that you may finally lean on me... that you will irrevocably trust that my love for you is infinite.
"... Jumin!" You sobbed, tears streaming down your eyes. "You weren't supposed to make me cry more!"
Jumin roughly tugged you in and held you fiercely, kissing the top of your head. "No more talk of you leaving me... don't go anywhere. Stay by my side, and rest assured that I will stay by yours."
"Forever?" You squeaked.
"And ever," Jumin whispered vehemently. "Ah... your back -"
"Don't you dare pull away from me, Jumin," you half-joked.
"... Ha. I wouldn't dream of it, my dear. What do you say we grab some lunch, hm? Your choice."
"Sure... fifteen more minutes like this, first," you replied, your mouth pressed against Jumin's chest.
Jumin laughed and rested his cheek atop your head. "Excellent plan."
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